Gaza City (CNN) -- Hamas claimed it captured an Israeli soldier Sunday on the deadliest day yet in the battle between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza.

Ron Prosor, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, denied the report.

"There's no kidnapped Israeli soldier, and those rumors are untrue," he said.

According to Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, the soldier was taken during an early morning operation.

He provided the supposed soldier's name and ID.

"He is a prisoner, and if Zionists lie about the dead and wounded, then the fate of this soldier is their responsibility," the spokesman said.

Gunfire and cheers erupted in Gaza in apparent celebration of the soldier's capture, according to CNN reporters on the ground.

"It's a game changer, immediately, because it's going to change what the Israelis are doing on the ground in that sector. They're going to be looking for him," said CNN military analyst Lt. Col. Rick Francona.

"Overall, the Israeli strategy is not going to change. They're committed to this mission," he said. Though, in the future, Francona said, the Israelis are "going to have to make some sort of accommodation to get this guy back."

In 2006, Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was captured. He was released some five years later in exchange for more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners.