Hamas has claimed it is keeping Israeli commanders hostage amid reports that 50 civilians are being held by gunmen in a kibbutz near the Gaza border.
The deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau, Saleh al-Arouri, said “senior officers” have been captured.
“What is in our hands will free all the prisoners” in Israel, he told Al Jazeera’s Arabic channel, presumably referring to Palestinians being held in Israeli jails.
“We captured senior officers from the occupation army,” he added.
“There are many Palestinians killed and many Israelis dead as well as prisoners, and the battle is still at its peak.”
Hamas fighters were reported to have captured senior Israeli military officer Maj Gen Nimrod Aloni, the former commander of the Israeli defence force’s Gaza division, with pictures posted on social media purportedly showing him led him through the streets in his T-shirt and underwear.
The IDF however later denied that a Major General had been captured.
Israel network N12 reported that around 50 Israeli civilians have been kidnapped by Hamas militants.
Hostages were reportedly taken from Kibbutz Be’eri, on the eastern border of the Gaza strip, and Netiv HaAsara, to its north.
Reshet 13 TV News, an Israeli broadcaster, said militants were holding Israelis hostage in the town of Ofakim, 14 miles from Gaza’s eastern border.
Hamas claimed some of the hostages had been brought with the militants back into Palestinian territory, but others are thought to have been held hostage within southern Israel.
‘Guardian of the Walls’
The IDF statement did not give further details on the claims that Maj Gen Aloni had been captured.
The commander was responsible for running Operation Guardian of the Walls, Israel’s military response to Hamas rocket attacks against Jerusalem in the Gaza Strip in May 2021.
He also commanded the Gaza division during Breaking Dawn, a three-day Israeli air strike campaign against Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) targets in August 2022.
Following the operation, Gen Aloni announced that the IDF had disabled Hamas tunnels into southern Israel.
The Depth Corps Gen Aloni commands, established in 2011, is charged with running special operations against Hamas, PIJ and Hezbollah targets within enemy territory.
Its purpose is to strike high-value targets away from the front line.
