All news

Hamas says Israel struck site where Israeli hostage was held

The spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing warned that "any shelling attack" on Israel’s part "may turn the release of hostages into a tragedy"

CAIRO, January 16. /TASS/. The Israeli military has delivered a strike on a facility where Hamas kept a female Israeli hostage, who was to be swapped during phase one of the Gaza ceasefire deal, said Abu Ubaida, spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades .

"After a ceasefire agreement was announced, enemy forces struck a facility where a female hostage, included in the list of the phase one swap, was held," he wrote on Telegram without specifying the current condition of the woman.

He warned that "any shelling attack" on Israel’s part "may turn the release of hostages into a tragedy."

Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani announced on January 15 that through mediation efforts by Doha, Cairo, and Washington, Israel and Hamas agreed on the release of hostages held in Gaza and a ceasefire. The agreement will take effect on Sunday, January 19. During the initial 42-day phase, Hamas will release 33 Israeli military and civilian female hostages, as well as wounded civilians, children, and the elderly, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.