Commenting on the video posted on Telegram, the Qassam Brigades said: "An operation to rescue Zionist prisoners from a tunnel bombed by the occupation army several days ago."
The video showed the moment the tunnel was being dug during the search for the captives, with a Qassam fighter providing oxygen to one of the captives, whose identity was not revealed.
In one scene, a Qassam fighter asks about the missing people inside the tunnel, and directs a question to the rescued prisoner: "Have you seen him?" During the video, the prisoner is seen writhing in pain and saying in Hebrew: "My body hurts. I'm having difficulty breathing."
Al-Qassam Brigades stated that it would publish details later. On April 19, it announced the recovery of the body of one of the individuals responsible for securing the Israeli-American captive, Idan Alexander, and confirmed that the latter's fate remained unknown after the Israeli army bombed their location in the Gaza Strip.
Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida said in a statement: "We were able to retrieve a martyr who was tasked with securing the captive Idan Alexander. The fate of the captive and the rest of the captive mujahideen remains unknown."
Abu Obeida stressed that the Qassam Brigades "is trying to protect all prisoners and preserve their lives despite the brutality of the aggression, but their lives are in danger due to the criminal bombing operations of the enemy's army" the Israeli army.
The Al-Qassam Brigades have repeatedly warned, in previous statements, of Israel's procrastination in resuming the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and the risks it poses to the lives of prisoners, due to Israel's deliberate bombing of the sites where they are located.
Tel Aviv estimates that there are 59 Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip, 24 of whom are still alive. Meanwhile, more than 9,500 Palestinians are languishing in its prisons, suffering torture, starvation, and medical neglect, many of whom have died, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.
