Hamas says seven hostages killed in Gaza camp bombing

GAZA STRIP - Hamas said that seven hostages from its Oct 7 raids, including three foreign passport holders, were killed in Israel's bombing of Gaza's largest refugee camp.

Dozens of bodies were seen on Tuesday at the Jabalia camp where Israel said it killed a Hamas fighter commander in a strike on a tunnel complex.

"Seven detainees were killed in the Jabalia massacre yesterday, including three holders of foreign passports," said a Hamas fighter wing statement.

No details were given and it was not possible to independently verify the claim. The fighter wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, previously announced that "almost 50" hostages had been killed in earlier raids.

Israel says that 240 hostages were taken when Hamas fighters crossed the border to stage raids in which they killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians.

Israel's raid on the Jabalia camp was one of thousands since the attacks which the Hamas health ministry says have killed more than 8,500 people, two-thirds of them women and children.

The Israel military said its fighter jets "assassinated Ibrahim Biari, commander of the Jabalia brigade of the Hamas organisation, who was one of those who directed the raid on Oct 7".

It added that "Hamas's underground infrastructure beneath these buildings collapsed," in the strike and "many Hamas fighters" were killed.

Facing growing domestic pressure, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said freeing the hostages is a priority of the military campaign.

Questioned this week about the civilian toll in Gaza and the risk to hostages, Netanyahu said there had to be "a moral distinction between the deliberate murder of the innocent and the unintentional casualties that accompany every legitimate war, even the most just war". - AFP