A leading source in the Al-Qassam Brigades confirmed to Al Jazeera today, Monday, that an Israeli female prisoner was recently killed in the northern Gaza Strip in mysterious circumstances in one of the combat zones.

He added that an investigation is underway to determine the causes of the incident, stressing that the Qassam Brigades do not intend to publish the name of the slain prisoner for security reasons.

The source did not clarify where the Israeli prisoner was killed, but the occupation army began a new military operation on October 6 in the Jabalia camp and town and large areas in the northern Gaza Strip, accompanied by violent shelling that left hundreds of martyrs and wounded.

In previous times, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced the killing of Israeli prisoners as a result of the violent Israeli bombardment that targeted various areas of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli estimates indicate that 107 Israelis are still being held in Gaza, more than 50 of whom are still alive, while the Palestinian resistance has not confirmed the numbers of living and dead detainees it holds.

It is noteworthy that in early September, the spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, said that the insistence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on releasing the prisoners through military pressure instead of concluding a deal would mean their return in coffins, after the Israeli army recovered the bodies of 6 detainees found in a tunnel in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.