CAIRO: At least 50 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday, according to Palestinian health officials. Health officials said the military had escalated its strikes across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 92 people in the past 48 hours, at least 50 of them on Saturday.

Moreover, the armed wing of Hamas said fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him were found killed in the Israeli strikes conducted on Saturday.

A month after Israel re-launched intensive strikes ac­ross the breadth of Gaza following the collapse a ceasefire, Israel was intensifying its attacks.

President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority”. His release was at the centre of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.

Hamas says fate of dual US-Israeli national unknown after guard killed in the strikes

Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the fighters holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered. “The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida. “We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives ... but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.

Hamas released 38 prisoners under the ceasefire that began on Jan 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.

Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining prisoners only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.

Since renewing its attacks, Israel has seized swathes of Gaza and ordered hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate in what Palestinians fear is a step towards permanently depopulating swathes of land. The Gaza health ministry says 1,600 people have been killed in the past month. On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day.

Israeli soldier killed

The Israeli military announced that a soldier was killed on Saturday in the fighting in Gaza, the first fatality since a ceasefire with Hamas collapsed in mid-March.

The military said Sergeant Major Ghaleb Sliman Al-Nasasra, 35, fell during combat in northern Gaza, adding that three others were also wounded. Two of the wounded were women soldiers, the military said.

Netanyahu statement

Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 prisoners for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the conflict and reconstruction of Gaza.

He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions”.

Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated the Israeli stance on Saturday.

Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli prisoners Elkana Bohbot.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2025