Hamas published this Saturday (30) a video showing an Israeli-American hostage in which he begs the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, to guarantee his release.
The person in the video is 20-year-old soldier Edan Alexander. His family declined to comment, but allowed the video to be published. Alexander was kidnapped during Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.
The video shows the pale-looking man sitting in a dark space against a wall, identifying himself, addressing his family, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump. It is unclear whether what he said was written down by his captors.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the location and date of the shooting, but was able to confirm that the facial features match archival footage of the hostage.
Netanyahu said in a statement that the video was cruel psychological warfare and that he had told Alexander’s family in a phone call that Israel was working tirelessly to bring the hostages home.
About half of the 101 foreign and Israeli hostages are believed to still be alive in Gaza.
Understand the conflict in the Gaza Strip
Israel has carried out intense airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since last year, after Hamas invaded the country and killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli counts. Furthermore, the radical group holds dozens of hostages.
Hamas does not recognize Israel as a state and claims Israeli territory for Palestine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly promised to destroy Hamas’ military capabilities and recover people detained in Gaza.
In addition to the air offensive, the Israeli Army carries out land incursions into Palestinian territory. This caused much of Gaza’s population to be displaced.
The UN and several humanitarian institutions have warned of a catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, with a lack of food, medicine and the spread of diseases.
The Israeli population is constantly protesting against Netanyahu, accusing the prime minister of failing to reach a ceasefire agreement so that the hostages can be released.
This content was originally published in Hamas publishes video showing Israeli-American hostage in the Gaza Strip on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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