Hamas announces death of Israeli hostage due to 'medicine, food shortages'

Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, has announced the death of the first Israeli hostage due to "shortages of medicine and food".

In a statement on Saturday, 23 March, the brigades identified the victim as 34-year-old Israeli man Yigev Bukhatab, stating that hostages in Gaza face similar hardships experienced by Palestinians living in the coastal enclave.

The brigades also published a short video clip showing the body of Bukhatab, while there has been no immediate comment from Israel on the report, Xinhua news agency reported.

Hamas kidnapped more than 250 people from Israel during a surprise attack on the southern part of the country on 7 October 2023, which also killed about 1,200 people, according to figures published by Israeli authorities. In response, Israel launched a large-scale retaliatory attack, killing more than 32,000 in Gaza as of Saturday, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

After the outbreak of the conflict, Israel also imposed a blockade on the coastal enclave, home to about 2.35 million people, exacerbating severe shortages of essentials such as food, water, medicine, and electricity for local residents.

On 18 March, the UN food agency said "famine is imminent" in northern Gaza, where 70% of the remaining population is experiencing catastrophic hunger, and that a further escalation of the war could push around half of Gaza's total population to the brink of starvation.

The alarming report came as Israel faces mounting pressure from even its closest allies to streamline the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip and open more crossings. The European Union's top diplomat said the impending famine was "entirely man-made" as "starvation is used as a weapon of war".