Hamas says it captured Israeli soldiers in Gaza; Israel denies
Source: Arab News
CAIRO/TEL AVIV: A spokesman for Hamas' armed wing said on Sunday its fighters had captured Israeli soldiers during fighting in Jabalia in northern Gaza on Saturday, though the Israeli military denied the claim.
But if true, the new capture could put more pressure on the Netanyahu government as relatives of Israelis still being held hostage by Hamas step up protest actions.
"Our fighters lured a Zionist force into an ambush inside a tunnel ... The fighters withdrew after they left all members of the force dead, wounded, and captured," Abu Ubaida, the spokesman for Al Qassam Brigades, said in a recorded message broadcast by Al Jazeera early on Sunday. The Hamas armed wing spokesman did not say how many soldiers had been abducted and showed no proof of the claim.
The Palestinian militant group's claim came a day after the Israeli troops retrieved the bodies of three hostages in an overnight operation in Jabalia.
In a statement, the Israeli military on Sunday said: "The IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) clarifies that there is no incident in which a soldier was abducted."
Hamas released a video that appeared to show a bloodied person being dragged along the ground in a tunnel and photos of military fatigue and rifle, although the video could not be independently verified.
The comments by Abu Ubaida came hours after prospects for a resumption of mediated Gaza ceasefire talks grew on Saturday.
An official with knowledge of the matter said a decision had been taken to resume the talks next week after the chief of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency met the head of the CIA and the prime minister of Qatar.
The source, who declined to be identified by name or nationality, said it had been decided that "in the coming week negotiations will open based on new proposals led by the mediators, Egypt and Qatar and with active US involvement."
A Hamas official later denied Israeli media reports the talks would resume in Cairo on Tuesday, telling Reuters: "There is no date."
After more than seven months of war in Gaza, the mediators have struggled to secure a breakthrough, with Israel seeking the release of hostages held by Hamas and Hamas seeking an end to the war and a release of Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
Protests in Tel Aviv
In Tel Aviv, thousands of Israelis demonstrators demand urgent government action to bring home hostages held in Gaza on Saturday were dispersed by the police using water canons. A number of protesters were also arrested.
At the start of the rally, protesters observed a minute's silence in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square in honor of the captives whose bodies were recovered by Israeli troops this month, an AFP correspondent reported.
The army said on Friday that troops had retrieved the bodies of hostages Chanan Yablonka, Brazilian-Israeli Michel Nisenbaum and French-Mexican Orion Hernandez Radoux. The families of the dead hostages were notified after forensic identification, the military said in a statement.
"In just a few hours, I will bury my 42-year-old brother... I feared this moment," Yablonka's sister Avivit said at Saturday's rally.
"My brother, I promise you that I will continue to shout, support, fight and do everything so that all the hostages return home safely.
"They must be taken out of this hell now."
The bodies of four other dead hostages -- Ron Benjamin, Yitzhak Gelerenter, Shani Louk and Amit Buskila -- were recovered last week.
Another protest, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an early election, was held nearby.
The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas's October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 35,903 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
(With Reuters & AFP)