The Qassam Brigades warned that the lives of two Israeli prisoners are at risk after losing contact amid intensified Israeli assaults that killed scores across Gaza and deepened the destruction of Gaza City.

The Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinain resistance movement Hamas, announced on Sunday that contact with two Israeli prisoners, Omri Miran and Matan Engrist, had been cut off due to “barbaric military operations and violent targeting” in the Sabra and Tel al-Hawa neighborhoods of Gaza City over the past 48 hours.

In a Telegram post, the Brigades warned that the lives of the two prisoners were in real danger, urging the Israeli occupation forces to immediately withdraw to the south of Highway 8 and halt air raids for 24 hours, starting at 6:00 pm today, to allow them to extract the two prisoners. The statement concluded with the words: “He who warns is excused.”

The announcement came as Israeli forces deepened their incursions into Gaza City as part of Operation Chariots Gideon 2, completing the city’s destruction and occupation. 

The Palestinian resistance has repeatedly warned that these military operations endanger the lives of Israeli prisoners, holding the government of Benjamin Netanyahu—wanted by the International Criminal Court—fully responsible for their fate.

Hamas' armed wing says it lost communication with hostages Matan Angrest and Omri Miran as a result of Israeli attacks in Gaza and calls on Israel to halt "air sorties" for 24 hours to remove hostages from danger pic.twitter.com/JdAHdhPPWu

— TRT World (@trtworld) September 28, 2025

On Sunday, Al-Jazeera cited eyewitnesses and medics as reporting that Israeli tanks advanced heavily into the neighborhoods of Sabra, Tel al-Hawa, Sheikh Radwan, and al-Nasr, approaching the heart of Gaza City and its western districts, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge. Israeli attacks killed at least 40 Palestinians across the besieged enclave.

Palestinian authorities in Gaza City expressed concern over their inability to respond to dozens of distress calls as bombardments and incursions intensified. The long-threatened ground offensive on Gaza City was launched on September 16, after weeks of intensified raids that forced thousands to flee, while tens of thousands remain trapped inside the city.

Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, a medical source at Al-Awda Hospital said 10 Palestinians were killed and several others remained under the rubble following an Israeli airstrike on two homes in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

🚨 Breaking

Al-Qassam Brigades: -We announce the interruption of communication with the two prisoners (Omri Miran and Matan Ingrest) as a result of the barbaric military operations and violent targeting in the Al-Sabra and Tal Al-Hawa neighborhoods during the last 48 hours
1/2 pic.twitter.com/m6PY8EWpAp

— ahmed ghazali (@ahmedghazali79) September 28, 2025

The occupation army continued demolishing residential buildings with explosive drones in the Al-Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza City. In Khan Yunis, a Palestinian was killed by Israeli gunfire while waiting for aid near a distribution center in the al-Tina area. Two more Palestinians were killed in separate Israeli attacks on the southern Gaza Strip.

Near the Netzarim axis, Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian waiting for aid close to the US-Israeli aid distribution center south of Wadi Gaza. In Rafah, the Nasser Medical Complex reported that another Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire while waiting for aid north of the city. The hospital also confirmed the death of an infant due to malnutrition and lack of medical care.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with US support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, killing 65,926 Palestinians and wounding 167,783 others, most of them women and children. The war and siege have triggered a famine that has so far claimed the lives of 442 Palestinians, including 147 children.

(PC, AJA)