Hamas claims to have taken Israeli soldier ‘prisoner’

A protester wearing a garment depicting the Israeli Prime Minister walks through smoke as relatives and supporters of Israelis taken hostage by Palestinian militants in Gaza in the October 7 attacks demonstrate calling for their release in the central city of Tel Aviv on May 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian militant Hamas group. Agence France-Presse

The armed wing of Hamas said it had taken “prisoner” at least one Israeli soldier in an ambush on Saturday in the Gaza Strip, a claim Israel denied.

The Palestinian militant group targeted Israeli forces in a tunnel in the Jabalia camp and “all their members were killed, wounded or taken prisoner,” said Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

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Hamas also broadcast images of a soldier being dragged along the ground, presenting the soldier as a captured Israeli. The images could not be immediately authenticated by AFP.

In a statement on Telegram, the Israeli army said it “clarifies that there is no incident in which a soldier was abducted”.

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Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded Rafah on Saturday, as the government dismissed an order by the top UN court to halt its military offensive in the southern Gaza city.

At the same time, renewed international efforts were underway aimed at securing a ceasefire in the war sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel.