The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, released a video on Saturday showing the rescue of Israeli captives from a tunnel that was bombed by Israeli forces several days ago, amid what they described as a genocide carried out by Tel Aviv with U.S. support in Gaza.
اضافة اعلان
In a statement accompanying the video, posted on Telegram, Al-Qassam said: "Rescue operation for Zionist captives from a tunnel bombed by the occupation army several days ago."
The footage showed the process of digging into the tunnel during the search for the captives, with an Al-Qassam fighter providing oxygen to one of the captives, whose identity was not revealed.
In one scene, an Al-Qassam fighter is heard asking about missing persons inside the tunnel, posing a question to the rescued captive: "Did you see him?"
The captive, visibly in pain, is heard speaking in Hebrew: "My body hurts, I’m having difficulty breathing."
Al-Qassam stated that more details would be released later.
On April 19, Al-Qassam announced the retrieval of the body of one of its fighters tasked with guarding Israeli-American captive Edan Alexander, adding that Alexander's fate remains unknown following the Israeli bombing of their location in Gaza.
In a statement, Al-Qassam spokesperson Abu Obeida said: "We managed to retrieve the body of a martyr who was responsible for guarding the captive Edan Alexander. The fate of the captive and the rest of the guarding fighters remains unknown."
Abu Obeida emphasized that Al-Qassam "is trying to protect all captives and preserve their lives despite the brutal aggression, but their lives are at risk due to the criminal bombardment by the enemy army."
Earlier, on April 15, Abu Obeida announced the loss of communication with the group guarding Edan Alexander following a direct Israeli airstrike on their location.
Al-Qassam has repeatedly warned in previous statements about Israel's delay in reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and the risks this poses to the lives of the captives, particularly as Israel deliberately targets the sites where they are held.
Tel Aviv estimates that there are 59 Israeli captives in Gaza, 24 of whom are believed to be alive. Meanwhile, Israeli prisons hold over 9,500 Palestinian detainees, many of whom suffer from torture, starvation, and medical neglect — conditions that have led to numerous deaths, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.
Since October 7, 2023, and with unwavering U.S. support, Israel has been carrying out a genocide in Gaza, resulting in more than 168,000 Palestinian casualties, the majority of whom are women and children, with more than 11,000 missing.
(Source: Various Palestinian and international media reports)
