News - Middle East: The spokesperson for the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement says the Israeli military has besieged the location where Israeli captive Matan Zangauker is being held in the Gaza Strip.

Abu Ubaida, spokesman for al-Qassam Brigades, stressed in a brief statement on Saturday that the Israeli army would not be able to retrieve him alive.

“If this prisoner is killed during an attempt to free him, the occupation army will be the sole party responsible for his death, as we have been preserving his life for a year and 8 months. He who warns is blameworthy,” he pointed out.

Matan Zangauker was taken captive on October 7, 2023, in Kibbutz Nir Oz, alongside his partner, Ilana Gritzewsky.

Gritzewsky was released on November 30, 2023, as part of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar between Hamas and the Israeli regime.

Zangauker’s mother, Einav, has become one of the most recognizable relatives of Israeli captives.

She has led protests and made media appearances in which she has repeatedly denounced the right-wing administration led by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and demanded a ceasefire as well as the release of Palestinian detainees in exchange for Israeli captives.

At least 54,772 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 125,834 individuals injured in the brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 7, 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Netanyahu and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant, citing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the besieged coastal territory.

Press TV