Hamas releases video of sick Israeli soldier in its captivity

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas published a short video on Tuesday showing an Israeli soldier in its captivity in dire health condition.

The man, who has been held captive in Hamas-ruled Gaza since 2015, is seen lying in bed with an oxygen mask.

There is a close up of his ID card at the end of the video, which has no audio. The video is titled in Arabic "Footage of soldier in the occupation army, Hisham al-Sayed, detained by the Al-Qassam Brigades," Hamas’ military wing.

مشاهد للجندي في جيش الاحتلال هشام السيد في أسره لدى كتائب القسام pic.twitter.com/UGrvGNDbKW

— فلسطين الآن (@paltimes2015) June 28, 2022

Al-Sayed, from Palestine’s Bedouin community, was snatched by Hamas as he wandered into the besieged Gaza Strip territory in 2015.

Al-Qassam Brigades had announced on Monday that the health of an Israeli captive in Gaza has deteriorated.

In a short tweet, Abu Obaida, the spokesman of al-Qassam brigades, said that "the health condition of one of our Israeli hostages has deteriorated", without giving further details.

Officially, Israel claims that Hamas holds the remains of Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, two soldiers who were killed in Gaza during Israel's military offensive in 2014, as well as two civilians who are believed to be alive, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.

Israel currently holds hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Both sides engaged in clashes last year when Israel pounded the Gaza Strip for 11 days. Hamas retaliated with rocket fire.

Israeli attacks on Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank triggered the violence, which resulted in the killing of hundreds of Palestinians by Israeli forces.