GAZA: The armed wing of Hamas, Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said it had taken at least one Israeli soldier “prisoner” in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, a claim Israel denied.
The Palestinian militant group targeted Israeli forces in a tunnel in the Jabalia camp and “all their members were killed, wounded or captured,” said Abu Obeida, a spokesman for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
Hamas also broadcast footage of a soldier being dragged on the ground, depicting the soldier as a captured Israeli.
In a statement on Telegram, the Israeli military said it “clarifies that there was no incident in which a soldier was kidnapped.”
Israeli warplanes and artillery pounded Rafah on Saturday as the government rejected an order by the UN’s top court to halt a military offensive in the southern Gaza city.
At the same time, renewed international efforts were underway to secure a ceasefire in the war sparked by Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on 7 October.
