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By  team in Gaza with Lama Taha in Jerusalem

Hamas said today that after an Israeli strike it had “lost contact” with the captors of an Israeli-American hostage in Gaza, whose release reportedly takes centre stage in Israel’s latest proposal for a renewed ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited northern Gaza, his office announced, as the military kept up the offensive it resumed on March 18, effectively ending a two-month ceasefire.

Speaking to troops, he said Hamas would continue to “suffer blow after blow”.

In a statement on Telegram, Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ military wing the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said: “We announce that we have lost contact with the group holding soldier Edan Alexander following a direct strike on their location”.

“We are still trying to reach them at this moment,” he added.

The military wing later released a video addressed to the families of the remaining hostages, warning them that their loved ones were likely to return in coffins if Israel kept up its bombardment of the territory.

Over video images of masked militants carrying black coffins out of white vans in the darkness, the video carried a subtitled message in English, Arabic, and Hebrew.

“Be prepared. Soon, your children will return in black coffins with their bodies torn apart by shrapnel from your army’s missiles,” the message warns.

Hamas’ armed wing released a video at the weekend showing Alexander alive, in which he criticised the Israeli Government for failing to secure his release.

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Alexander appeared to be speaking under duress in the footage, making frequent hand gestures as he criticised Netanyahu’s Government.

AFP was unable to determine when the video was filmed.

Alexander was serving in an elite infantry unit on the Gaza border when he was abducted by Palestinian militants during their October 2023 attack.

The soldier, who turned 21 in captivity, was born in Tel Aviv and grew up in the American state of New Jersey, returning to Israel after high school to join the army.

‘Gesture of goodwill’

Hamas said yesterday NZT that it had received a new truce offer from Israel that foresees the release of 10 living hostages, starting with Alexander, in exchange for a 45-day ceasefire.

A Hamas official said the Israeli proposal called for Alexander’s release on the first day of the ceasefire as a “gesture of goodwill”.

It was delivered to the group’s delegation in Cairo by Egyptian officials over the weekend, and a senior Hamas official told AFP the group would “most likely” respond within 48 hours.

Another Hamas official said Israel had also demanded that the Palestinian militants disarm to secure an end to the Gaza war, but said this crossed a “red line”.

Out of 251 hostages taken during Hamas’ October 2023 attack, a total of 58 remain in captivity, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

In northern Gaza, Netanyahu told troops: “They are striking the enemy and Hamas will continue to suffer blow after blow. We insist that they release our hostages, and we insist on achieving all of our war objectives.”

French President Emmanuel Macron told Netanyahu in a telephone call that only a ceasefire in Gaza could free the remaining hostages.

Saying the suffering of Gazan civilians “must end”, he called for “opening all humanitarian aid crossings” into the Palestinian territory.

Israel has cut off all aid to the Gaza Strip since March 2 to put pressure on Hamas.

The United Nations has warned that Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is worsening, with no aid having entered the territory for a month and a half.

“The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities,” the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Macron angered Israel last week when he suggested Paris could recognise a Palestinian state during a UN conference in New York in June.

Netanyahu’s office said he told Macron that the establishment of a Palestinian state would be a “huge reward for terrorism”.

- Agence France-Presse