Several hostages taken into captivity by Hamas are likely to have been killed, a spokesperson of the Palestinian militant group said Sunday as he blamed Israel for their deaths, AFP reported.

“The fate of many of the enemy’s hostages and detainees has become unknown in recent weeks and the rest have all entered the tunnel of the unknown due to the Zionist aggression,” said Hamas spokesperson Abu Obeida in a televised statement. “Most likely, many of them were killed recently, the rest are in great danger every hour and the enemy’s leadership and army bear full responsibility.”

He added: “After 100 days of battle... this is the enemy’s leadership, gulping down pain and wading through the mud of failure and setback.”

Hamas had taken over 200 hostages, including Israeli, American and Thai citizens, into captivity on October 7 when its militants carried out an attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people getting killed. Hamas had released 105 hostages during a ceasefire at the end of November.

The attack triggered Israel to launch an offensive and has since been conducting relentless air and ground strikes, killing more than 22, 000 Palestinians, including thousands of women and children.

On Sunday, Obeida said that Hamas and its allies will expand their attacks against Israeli troops in the coming days, reported AFP.

He also accused Israel of launching a “religious war” by destroying mosques in the Gaza Strip. “He [Israel] desecrated, burned and bulldozed those that his vehicles reached on the ground, and stopped the call to prayer... in a clear religious war,”