Israeli Hostage Dies Of Wounds From Israeli Attack: Hamas

Palestinian group Hamas said Tuesday that an Israeli hostage had died of injuries sustained in an Israeli airstrike a month ago.

Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for the group's armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, identified the hostage as Judy Feinstein, 70, saying she and another hostage sustained serious injuries in an Israeli attack on a site where they were held.

Hamas is believed to be holding more than 130 Israeli hostages following its cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed nearly 1,200 people.

Israel has since launched a brutal military offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 34,800 people and injuring 78,100 others amid mass destruction and severe shortages of necessities.

Seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave's population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul -