The armed wing of the Hamas group said that “nearly 50” Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in the Palestinian territory.

The (Ezzedine) Al-Qassam Brigades estimates that the number of Zionist prisoners killed in the Gaza Strip due to Zionist attacks and massacres has reached nearly 50, the Hamas armed wing said in a statement issued on its Telegram channel, quoted by AFP news agency.

AFP has not been able to verify the claim. Israel has launched massive air and artillery strikes on Gaza after Hamas carried out a major attack on southern Israel on October 8.

Earlier, the Israeli military said 224 people were kidnapped by Hamas in the October 8 offensive that left 1,400 people, mostly civilians, dead.

We have informed the families of 224 hostages. This number changed based on intelligence information we obtained, military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

This will continue to change. Getting the hostages home is the top priority, he added.

According to Israeli government figures that AFP could not confirm, at least half of the hostages have foreign passports.

On Thursday (27/10) in Tel Aviv, an organization representing the families of the hostages said they had reached “the end of their patience” and demanded a meeting with top government officials immediately.

We demand that the cabinet speak to us tonight and tell us how they intend to bring them (hostages) back today. We are intensifying the struggle, we are no longer waiting to be led, we are leading the struggle,” said Meirav Leshem Gonen – – the mother of Romi Gonen who is among the hostages.

To date, four women have been released by Hamas after mediation by Egypt and Qatar.