The spokesman for Hamas’s military wing, Abu Obeida, published an unusual statement on Shabbos claiming that IDF forces are “besieging the area where the Zionist prisoner Matan Tzengauker is located.”

The statement read: “An urgent warning to all concerned. We unequivocally affirm that the enemy will not be able to rescue him alive. If this prisoner is killed during an attempt to release him, the occupation army will be responsible for his death—after we kept him alive for a year and eight months.”

Hamas released a photo of Zangauker appearing frail and attached to an IV with an explicit threat: “He Will Not Return Alive.”