One Israeli hostage was killed and two were injured in two separate incidents involving al-Qassam fighters in Gaza, according to a statement from Hamas’ military wing spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
In one incident, a fighter fatally shot a male hostage he was guarding, and in the other, two female hostages were wounded, Abu Ubaida said in a statement. Attempts are being made to save the female hostages’ lives, he added.
Al-Qassam did not identify the hostages, and it blamed Israel for “massacres and the resulting reactions,” Abu Ubaida said, hinting that the shooters may have been motivated by Israel’s recent airstrikes in Gaza, including one on a school that killed over 100 people, according to officials there.
“A committee has been formed to find out the details, and they will be announced later,” Abu Ubaida added.
This appears to be the first time since the Oct. 7 terror attack, in which 1,200 were killed and more than 240 taken hostage, that Hamas or other militant groups admitted to killing or harming Israeli hostages.
Some 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war that followed the Oct. 7 attack, according to Gaza health officials.
In a statement, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said they are aware of the two incidents.
“At this stage, we do not have any intelligence confirmation that would allow us to either refute or verify Hamas’s claims,” he said on X. “We are continuing to investigate and verify the credibility of the message and will update as soon as we have any further information.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com