Dubai/Jerusalem (Reuters) – The armed wing of Hamas said on Friday it had repelled an attempted hostage rescue by Israeli special forces in the Gaza Strip, inflicting several military casualties, and that a captive also died in the incident.
The Israeli military, which freed a captive soldier in Gaza in late October and is waging a Gaza offensive designed in part to recover 138 remaining hostages, had no immediate comment.
In a statement distributed on Telegram, Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades said its fighters discovered a special forces unit mounting a rescue attempt and attacked it, killing and wounding several soldiers. It did specify the location of the incident.
It said a captive Israeli soldier was killed, naming him as Sa’ar Baruch, 25. Lists of the hostages published by Israel identify one of them as Sahar Baruch, a civilian student who was 24 when he was seized from his home during the deadly Oct 7 cross-border Hamas rampage that sparked the war.
