An Israeli hostage reportedly attempted to commit suicide as he is being held captive by Gaza’s militant Islamic Jihad group, said a spokesperson for the group’s armed wing in a video, released on Telegram Thursday. The spokesperson said that the medical team from the group intervened and managed to save the hostage from death but did not reveal any information about the man’s identity or his status.
According to the group’s armed wing spokesperson Abu Hamza, the incident had occurred three days ago and pointed out that the mental distress of the hostage was brought about by her experience of imprisonment. The report did not provoke an immediate Israeli government response.
The hostage is one of 251 people kidnapped during the brutal attack by Hamas militants and Islamic Jihad in Gaza on October 7, 2023, which killed over 1,200 Israelis. The attack was launched by Hamas and its supporters, including Islamic Jihad, whom Israel responded to with military operations. So far, the Gaza war has killed over 45,500 Palestinians, according to local health officials.
Islamic Jihad claimed that the hostage had been slated for release as part of an initial prisoner exchange deal with Israel, but the group blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for delaying the negotiations. Abu Hamza expressed frustration, stating that the new conditions set by Israel had caused setbacks in the discussions for the release of Israeli hostages.
Arab mediators and the United States, which have also made efforts at negotiating a Gaza ceasefire, still had no luck since the region continued in violent conflict. In July, the Islamic Jihad’s armed wing had admitted, in a contentious statement, that some Israeli hostages had indeed tried to kill themselves, saying that was the reaction to how they were treated and that such was the conditions to which Israel imposed on Palestinian prisoners. Nonetheless, Israel has unequivocally negated claims to have mistreated Palestinian detainees.
