Hamas on Saturday warned the Israel Defense Forces not to attempt to rescue hostage Matan Zangauker, claiming that the military is “besieging” the location in the Gaza Strip where the Israeli is being held.
Shortly after the warning, the terrorist organization published a photo of Zangauker, 25, in captivity with an “explicit threat,” Hebrew-language outlet Ynet News reported.
“We make it absolutely clear that the enemy will not be able to get him out alive. If he is killed during an attempt to rescue him, the occupying army will bear responsibility for his death, after we safeguarded his life for 20 months,” Hamas said in a statement, according to Ynet.
The message was delivered at 4 p.m., and Zangauker’s mother, Einav, agreed that it be made public.
The IDF said that it made no rescue attempts on Saturday.
Hamas’s warning comes on the backdrop of Palestinian reports that IDF troops and Gazan terrorists were engaged in combat in the area of the European Hospital, located near Khan Yunis in the southern Strip.
The IDF has been operating in the area, the same area where it killed Hamas “military wing” leader Mohammed Sinwar on May 13 in a tunnel running beneath the hospital compound.
The Israeli military on Saturday was investigating whether it had found the body of the senior terrorist.
The IDF recently confirmed that it had killed Sinwar, the brother of Yahya Sinwar, the former leader of the terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip, who was slain by Israeli ground forces on Oct. 16, 2024. Following his brother’s death, Mohammed Sinwar served as the group’s top “military” leader.
Zangauker was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023.
