They would be trapped under the rubble of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombing.
Hamas’s military wing said on Saturday that more than 60 hostages were missing after Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
Abou Oubaida, spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, also stated in a message broadcast on Telegram that the bodies of 23 Israeli hostages were trapped under the rubble.
“It seems we will never be able to reach them because of the occupiers’ brutal aggression against Gaza,” he said.
On November 2, the IDF announced the complete encirclement of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military called the city a center of Hamas activity and justified the need to carry out operations against the movement’s militants directly in the area.
The IDF ground operation in the Gaza Strip began on the evening of October 27.
Portal was unable to verify these statements.
According to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, this military operation resulted in more than 9,000 deaths.
The Islamist group’s attack last October claimed around 1,400 lives in southern Israel.