An Israeli hostage has died as a result of a ‘failed rescue mission’
According to his kibbutz community, an Israeli hostage held in Gaza has been slain, after Hamas claimed he perished in a failed rescue effort.
Sahar Baruch, 25, is the latest reported casualty among hundreds of Israelis and tourists kidnapped by Hamas during its attacks on southern Israel on October 7.
“It is with deep sorrow and a broken heart that we announce the murder of Sahar Baruch,” Kibbutz Be’eri and the Israeli Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a joint statement.
The news came after the Israeli military reported two special forces soldiers were critically injured in a failed hostage rescue attempt on Friday night.
“During the operation, numerous terrorists who took part in the abducting and holding of hostages were killed,” the statement said. “No hostages were rescued in this activity.”
Hamas’ Al-Qassam brigades claimed to have foiled the attempted prisoner rescue, saying that a battle resulted in the death of one Israeli hostage.
“A fierce gunfight broke out between Al-Qassam fighters and Israeli special forces, leaving many soldiers wounded while the captive Israeli… was announced killed,” Hamas said in an English-language statement.
(Sahar Baruch, 25, is the latest verified death among hundreds of Israelis and tourists kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 – Times of Israel )
The terror group posted a two-minute video of Baruch in captivity speaking on camera. The film then turns to him lying still on the floor, most certainly dead, with bloodstains over his face.
The video also appears to show Israeli body armour jackets and other equipment taken by Hamas. The Telegraph was unable to confirm its veracity.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) neither confirmed nor denied the Hamas statement.
“We are not going to comment on the psychological warfare that Hamas continues to wage against the people of Israel,” Eylon Levy, an Israeli government spokesperson, said when asked about the unsuccessful raid.
“We hold Hamas fully responsible for the safety and wellbeing of these hostages,” he told reporters.
Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the settlements targeted by Hamas in its first October offensive, stated, “We will demand the return of Sahar’s body as part of any hostage exchange agreement.”
Tensions are increasing between hostage families and Israel’s government, which has been accused of prioritising Hamas destruction over the release of the detainees.
Raz Ben-Ami, 57, who was kidnapped and released under the truce, was so outraged at the lack of action to help her husband, Ohad, who remains in prison, that she walked out in the middle of a meeting, according to Ms Ben-Ami’s sister, Ayelet Hakim.
“It completely changed my sister,” Ms Hakim, a resident of Kibbutz Be’eri, said. “All she wants now is to see her husband again.”
“When she first appeared, the first thing she said was, ‘Now we’re going to bring Ohad back.'” That’s what she’s been doing ever since.”
The heavy fighting starts.
In the midst of severe combat spanning the length of the enclave, Israel encouraged inhabitants of six neighbourhoods of the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis to flee “immediately.”
The Arabic-language spokeswoman for Israel issued a map on Twitter outlining six numbered blocks of the city, including portions of the city core that had not previously been subject to such directives.
relief agencies have stressed that there is no safe location in Gaza, and that even the safe zones are being attacked, with food and other humanitarian relief delivery almost entirely cut off.
Israeli tanks surround Gaza’s second city, Khan Younis, on two sides. According to the Israeli military, it is fighting house to house and “shaft to shaft” through Hamas’ tunnel network.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis declared on Saturday that they will strike all ships bound for Israel, regardless of nationality, and cautioned all foreign shipping corporations against doing business with Israeli ports.
The Houthis have assaulted and taken control of multiple Israeli-linked ships in the Red maritime and its Bab al-Mandab strait, a maritime passage through which much of the world’s oil is moved, and have fired ballistic missiles and armed drones against Israel.