Media: Hamas relocates hostages in Gaza amid intensifying Israeli ground offensive

The military wing of Hamas, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, has reportedly transferred Israeli hostages to new locations within Gaza City, citing escalating risks to their lives as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) advance deeper into the enclave.

The relocation was carried out in response to the intensifying Israeli military operations targeting the administrative heart of Gaza. The hostages were moved under the escort of their guards to what the group described as “safer areas” of the city, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The source, whose identity was not disclosed, emphasized that the fate of the captives remains uncertain, given the rapidly evolving ground campaign. The operation, part of Israel’s broader effort to dismantle Hamas’ military infrastructure, has reportedly created increasingly perilous conditions for both civilians and those held in captivity.

As of now, no official figures have been released regarding the number of hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza City.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to health ministry figures from the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

At dawn on October 7, 2023, during the Jewish festival of Simhat Torah, hundreds of Hamas fighters infiltrate Israel from the Gaza Strip under a hail of rockets.

At least 1,219 people, mainly civilians, are killed on the Israeli side in attacks on kibbutzim and a rave music festival.

The attackers take 251 hostages back to Gaza, some of them already dead.

Israel’s domestic intelligence agency the Shin Bet, as well as the army, later acknowledged their failure in preventing the attack. The Shin Bet said there had been an overarching assessment that Hamas was more focused on “inciting violence” in the occupied West Bank.

One hundred and forty-one of the hostages taken during the attack — including eight who were dead — were released in November 2023 and in early 2025, during the war’s two ceasefires. In return Israel freed more than 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Some hostages have been brought back, both alive and dead, by the Israeli army over the course of the war. As of September 16, 2025, 47 hostages remained in Gaza, of whom at least 25 are believed to be dead.

By Vafa Guliyeva