The armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas says it has lost contact with a group holding Israeli-US captive Edan Alexander in the Gaza Strip after “direct Israeli bombardment” targeted the area where he was being held.
“It seems that the occupation army is deliberately trying to kill him and hence relieve themselves from the pressure caused by the dual-citizen prisoners in order to continue its genocide against our people,” Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, said on Tuesday.
On Saturday, Hamas had released a video showing Alexander – a New Jersey native and a 21-year-old soldier in the Israeli army – alive.
Alexander appeared to be under duress in the video and appealed to US President Donald Trump to get him out of Gaza and urged the US president not to believe “lies” told by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In his latest statement, Abu Obeida did not say where Alexander was being held in Gaza. The group’s armed wing later released a video warning families of the captives that their “children will return in black coffins with their bodies torn apart from shrapnel from your army”.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City, said Palestinians across the enclave believe that the US “has an interest” in securing Alexander’s release in a negotiated deal.
“They believe this will increase pressure on the Israeli government to speed up the process and come to an agreement,” Mahmoud said. “If it is confirmed that Alexander has been killed, then the Palestinian groups will lose what they hoped would be a lever of pressure against the Netanyahu government to get him to sign a ceasefire agreement.”
Hamas has previously blamed Israel for the deaths of captives held in Gaza, including as a direct result of bombardment, while also acknowledging on at least one occasion that a captive was killed by a guard. It said the guard had acted against instructions.
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters at the White House in March that securing the release of Alexander, believed to be the last living US hostage held by Hamas in Gaza, was a “top priority for us”.
The potential release of Alexander was at the centre of earlier talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Humanitarian situation at its ‘worst’
The announcement comes as Netanyahu said Israel would press on with its military offensive in Gaza to secure the release of captives and praised troops during a visit to the devastated north of the territory.
“They are striking the enemy and Hamas will continue to suffer blow after blow. We insist that they release our hostages, and we insist on achieving all of our war objectives,” Netanyahu told soldiers in Gaza, according to a statement from his office.
In a phone call with Netanyahu, France’s President Emmanuel Macron said he told Israel’s leader that the suffering of the people in Gaza “must end”, and that only a ceasefire could free the remaining Israeli captives.
Hamas released 38 captives under the last truce agreement that began on January 19. In mid-March, Israel’s military resumed its ground and aerial offensive on Gaza, abandoning the ceasefire and reimposing a total blockade of Gaza.
Hamas decried the ongoing blockade, saying Israel has been preventing the entry of “all essential items necessary for life, including food supplies, medicine and fuel”.
The United Nations has also warned that Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is spiralling out of control.
“The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities,” said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Israeli forces continued to bombard areas across Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least 21 people, according to Gaza’s civil defence.
Since Israel’s assault began in October 2023, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israeli officials say that the offensive will continue until the remaining 59 captives are freed and until Hamas is demilitarised. Hamas insists it will free hostages only as part of a deal to end the war permanently, and has repeatedly rejected demands to lay down its arms.
Israel issued a truce proposal to Egyptian and Qatari mediators on Monday, offering a 45-day temporary ceasefire in exchange for Hamas disarming and releasing 11 Israeli captives still held in Gaza.
Hamas said in a statement it was “studying” the proposal, but senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Al Jazeera prior to the release of the official statement that Hamas would not accept any demand to disarm.
