The armed wing of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, the Al-Qassam Brigades says most of the Israeli captives held in northern Gaza have gone missing, holding Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his military responsible for their lives.
Al-Qassam Brigades made the announcement on Friday, as the Israeli regime continues its intensified bombardment of the besieged Palestinian territory.
Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson said: Most of the enemy captives have gone missing due to the incessant Zionist aggression
‘Al-Qassam once again holds the Israeli regime and its military army fully responsible for the lives and fate of the captives being held across the blockaded Palestinian region.
Al-Qassam Brigades in recent months have released a series of video messages, saying Netanyahu does not care about the fate of the Israeli captives and is deliberately killing them.
In video messages released by Hamas, Israeli captives in Gaza slam Netanyahu’s failure to secure their release through a deal with the movement. The videos also contain pictures of a number of Israeli captives, who were killed in Israeli military attacks on Gaza.
Hamas has time and again warned Israel that the lives of captives are in danger unless the regime reverses its course.
Hamas held captive around 250 people during its unprecedented operation against the occupied territories on 7th October 2023. The resistance released 105 of the captives during a week-long truce in November 2023.
Six captives were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern Gaza Strip in September.
A research study published on Friday in the medical journal ‘The Lancet’ reported that the death toll in the Gaza Strip during the first nine months of the devastating war that Israel continues to wage is approximately 40 per cent higher compared to the figures provided by the Ministry of Health in the region.
On 30th June , 2024, the Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that the death toll from the war reached 37,877.
However, the study, which relied on data from the ministry, an online survey, and obituary data from social media, concluded that the estimated number of deaths due to war injuries in the Gaza Strip ranged between 55,298 and 78,525 during that period.
The best estimate for the death toll in the study is 64,260, which means it exceeds the figures published by the Ministry of Health for that period by 41 per cent.
The study noted that this number represents 2.9 per cent of the population of Gaza before the war, or about one in every 35 citizens in the region. According to the researchers’ estimates, 59 per cent of the victims are women, children, and the elderly.
The announced number only includes deaths from war-related injuries and does not account for deaths caused by other factors such as lack of healthcare or food, nor does it include the thousands of missing persons believed to be buried under the rubble.
The study indicated that the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s ability to maintain electronic records of deaths has previously proven reliable, but it has deteriorated amid the Israeli military campaign, which included raids on hospitals and other healthcare facilities and disruptions in digital communications.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the number who have been killed in the Israeli aggression has risen to 46,006, with 109,378 injured since October 7, 2023.
The researchers employed a statistical method known as ‘capture-recapture’ analysis, which has been previously used to estimate death tolls in other conflicts worldwide.
The analysis was based on data from three different lists: the first provided by the Ministry of Health in Gaza for identified bodies in hospitals or morgues.
The second list was derived from an online survey launched by the Ministry of Health, where Palestinians reported the deaths of their relatives.
The third list relied on obituary data published on social media networks whenever the identity of the deceased could be verified.
The principal investigator of the study, Zeina Jamaluddin, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, stated in a statement: ‘We kept only those in the analysis whose deaths were confirmed by their relatives or morgues or hospitals.’
The researchers scrutinised the three lists for any repeated data.
Jamaluddin, added: ‘Afterward, we looked at the overlap between the three lists, and based on the overlap, you can get an overall estimate of the population that was killed.’
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that about 10,000 missing Gazans are buried under the rubble.
The war can also indirectly cause loss of life, including due to lack of healthcare, food, water, sanitation, or disease outbreaks, all of which have afflicted the Gaza Strip since October
Meanwhile, Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have set fire to farmland and sprayed racist slogans in a village near Ramallah, according to news reports, as arson attacks and deadly Israeli military raids have escalated in recent days.
The attacks came as Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s internal security agency Shin Bet (Shabak), urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to greenlight a major military offensive in the occupied territory.
A group of settlers attacked the farm on the outskirts of Khirbet Abu Falah where they burned a shed and left racist graffiti on the walls in Hebrew.
Palestinian civil defence crews were deployed to extinguish the blaze.
No injuries were reported in the attack on Thursday night.
Khirbet Abu Falah, as well as the town of Turmus Aya and the village of al-Mughayyir, all northeast of Ramallah, have been subject to repeated raids by Israeli settlers, who allegedly carried them out under the protection of Israeli soldiers.
On Friday, Israeli forces continued to carry out raids across the occupied West Bank, firing grenades and arresting several Palestinians.
In Qabatiya, south of Jenin, Israeli forces, disguised in civilian clothing, surrounded a house and bombarded it with projectiles, according to residents in the area.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Since the beginning of 2025, more than 50 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli home demolitions across the occupied West Bank, according to OCHA.
Overnight, multiple Israeli raids were also reported across Nablus with several young Palestinians arrested.
Footage posted on the internet shows the moment when Israeli forces lined up and detained dozens of young men during an assault on the town of Deir Istiya, northwest of Salfit.
Israeli forces also raided al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem; the town of Nilin, west of Ramallah; the villages of Hajjah and Baqat al-Hatab, east of Qalqilya; and Jalazone refugee camp, a frequent target of Israeli military operations.
Israeli occupation forces detained 15 Palestinians, including a woman, during a raid on the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank Friday m.
A special Israeli military unit, disguised in civilian clothes, sneaked into the town, surrounded a house and an agricultural warehouse, and bombarded the house with stun grenades before further military reinforcements arrived.
Local sources reported that the forces withdrew from the area surrounding the house and warehouse without any injuries or detentions from the besieged home. However, the Israeli forces expanded their attack to other areas of the town.
The occupation forces deployed additional military reinforcements, supported by bulldozers, and conducted extensive aerial surveillance using drones.
Israeli soldiers stormed several neighborhoods, raided multiple homes, and detained 15 Palestinians, including the woman.
In addition, they seized surveillance camera footage from one of the homes during the raid.
Heavy gunfire was reported as Israeli soldiers raided several areas of the town, leading to violent confrontations.
