Israel-Hamas war: Have hostages gone missing in Gaza?

Published

2 years ago

November 28, 2023

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Qatar has claimed that at least 40 women and children being held hostage in Gaza are not in the hands of Hamas – and are unaccounted for.

Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani said they may “never be able to reach them” – despite their communication lines with Hamas – and that locating the missing would be key to extending the current ceasefire.

Truce extension ‘close’; follow Israel-Gaza latest

Hamas leaders have previously blamed other militant groups for hostages going missing – saying they took advantage of damage done to the Israeli border from 7 October to smuggle their own captives into Gaza.

Israel has said it is “evaluating” the list of hostages still due to be freed under the current ceasefire.

So far 117 of 150 Palestinian prisoners promised by the Israelis have been freed – in exchange for 40 of the 50 hostages agreed to by Hamas.

Who might be holding them?

Although the Qataris say more than 40 hostages are missing, one of Hamas’s rival militant groups, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, has claimed it is holding 30 of them.

Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director at the transatlantic thinktank the Counter Extremism Project, says the situation is “terribly unclear”.

“It’s important to note that Islamic Jihad and Hamas don’t have a co-operative relationship – they’re actually competitors,” he tells Sky News. “So it’s not entirely clear if Hamas can get Islamic Jihad to release any of the hostages it may be holding.

“And it seems it wasn’t just them and Hamas involved in the 7 October attack.

“There’s been a well-developed smuggling economy in Gaza for decades – long before Hamas took control – organised by networks of crime families.

“So it’s possible hostages are neither under the control of Hamas nor Islamic Jihad – but these crime organisations.”

Independent criminals would have looked to take their own hostages in the chaos of 7 October for their own gain, he adds.

Could Hamas be lying?

Qatar’s links to Hamas, hosting many of its leaders in Doha, mean that Sheikh Mohammed’s claims about missing hostages are likely to have come from the group.

Mr Schindler says he “wouldn’t put it past Hamas to lie to the Qataris” as a way of indirectly misleading Israel.

But if they are, this is a strategy they need to consider “very, very carefully”, Professor Michael Clarke, security and defence analyst, tells Sky News.

“It’s in Hamas’s interests to keep these negotiations going, for two reasons.

“First, they want Palestinians freed from Israeli prisons, but second, so they can stall Israel’s second offensive.

“So, on the one hand, they want to play mind games, but they also don’t want to ruin the arrangement.”

Continuing the hostage-prisoner exchange is also important for Hamas’s legitimacy with the people of Gaza, Mr Schindler adds.

“This is a two-part negotiation. One with Israel and then one internally – to show the Palestinian community this was all worth it – Gaza destroyed, Palestinians used as human shields.

“They want to use this hostage situation to their maximum benefit – because before 7 October, 70% of Gazans said they didn’t like Hamas and I don’t think it’s going to get much better.”

Could they have died?

From late-October, Hamas has claimed that between 50 and 60 hostages have been killed in airstrikes.

Abu Ubaida, spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades, the group’s military wing, said the bodies of 23 missing Israeli hostages had been found in rubble.

Professor Clarke claims, however, that with hostages being likely held in tunnels underneath Gaza, they are safer than most in the territory and are unlikely to have been killed.

He also notes that Hamas did not identify any hostages supposedly confirmed dead.

“It would have been to their advantage to name them because it would increase pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu to pause airstrikes on Gaza, as the families could say ‘our relatives died from Israeli bombs – please stop them’.”

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‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

Published

15 hours ago

July 11, 2025

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'At least 798 killed' at Gaza aid points - as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.

The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.

Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.

The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.

Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.

Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.

“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.

The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.

It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.

The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.

After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

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At least 798 people have been killed at Gaza aid points, the UN says

Published

23 hours ago

July 11, 2025

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At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.

A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.

The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.

The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.

In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

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Ten children among at least 15 killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open, says aid group

Published

1 day ago

July 11, 2025

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Ten children among at least 15 killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open, says aid group

Ten children and two women are among at least 15 killed in an airstrike near a Gaza health clinic, according to an aid organisation.

Project Hope said it happened this morning near Altayara Junction, in Deir al Balah, as patients waited for the clinic to open.

The organisation’s president called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza“.

“No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” added the group’s project manager, Dr Mithqal Abutaha.

“It was a horrific scene. People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.”

Operations at the clinic – which provides a range of health and maternity services – have been suspended.

Some of the children were reportedly waiting to receive nutritional supplements, necessary due to the dire shortage of food being allowed into Gaza.

Israel‘s military is investigating and said it was targeting a militant who took part in the 7 October terror attack.

“The IDF [Israel Defence Force] regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible,” added.

The deaths come as an agreement over a 60-day truce hangs in the balance – with President Trump cautiously saying it could happen “this week, or next week”.

Elsewhere in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital reported another 21 deaths in airstrikes in Khan Younis and in the nearby coastal area of Muwasi.

It said three children and their mother were among the dead.

Israel said its troops have been dismantling more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites in Khan Younis over the past week, including missile launch sites, weapons storage facilities and a 500m tunnel.

On Wednesday, a soldier was shot dead when militants burst out of a tunnel and tried to abduct him, the military added.

Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks – one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months.

A 22-year-old Israeli man was also killed on Thursday by two attackers in a supermarket in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the Magen David Adom emergency service.

People on site reportedly shot and killed the attackers but information on their identity has so far not been released.

Negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire are ongoing and President Trump reportedly put “heavy” pressure on Israel’s leader, who visited the US this week.

A major sticking point is said to be the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.

However, Sky News understands the Israeli government thinks the chances of a permanent truce are “questionable”.

More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war – more than half are women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.

Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

The war began in October 2023 after Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251 others.

Some of them remain In Gaza and are a crucial part of ceasefire negotiations, which also include a planned surge in humanitarian aid into the strip.