The mother of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander said she has received assurances from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that “conditions are ripe” for a deal to release people detained in the Gaza Strip.
This came just hours after Hamas released a video of Alexander pleading with Israeli leader and US President-elect Donald Trump for his release.
Yael Alexander, whose son Edan was kidnapped on October 7 last year, said she was “shaken by the video”.
The speech was made before thousands at a rally on Saturday night (30) in “Hostage Square” in Tel Aviv, where hostage families have been gathering every week for months to ask the government to bring them home.
Earlier on Saturday, Hamas released a video showing Alexander pleading with Netanyahu and Trump not to forget him and to do what they can to free the remaining hostages in Gaza.
Although Hamas has released similar videos in the past, this was the first in which Alexander appeared. His family consented to the release of the video by the press.
Alexander’s mother told the crowd in Tel Aviv that she had been contacted by Netanyahu after the video was released.
“My Edan, my love, we miss you so much. I want to tell you that after your request, about an hour ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called me. He strengthened me and assured me that now, after the agreement in Lebanon, the conditions are ripe to release him and bring him home”, he highlighted.
She referred to a 60-day ceasefire agreement that came into effect between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday (27). Hostages’ families are hopeful that after the ceasefire in Lebanon, a deal can finally be reached to bring their loved ones home from Gaza.
Alexander appears to be under pressure in the video as he claims he was held captive for over 420 days. Saturday marks 421 days since the war between Israel and Hamas began.
THE CNN cannot independently confirm when the video was recorded, but Alexander acknowledges that Trump was elected US president as he calls on him to use the country’s influence to get the hostages to return home and criticizes the Biden administration.
“Please don’t make the mistake Biden has been making,” he says in the video.
Alexander also points out that he does not want to “end up dead like my fellow US citizen, Hersh” – a reference to Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg Polin, who was killed in captivity by Hamas in August.
Netanyahu says video is “psychological warfare”
The Israeli prime minister confirmed that he had spoken to Alexander’s family following what his office called a “brutal psychological warfare video in which an important and emotional sign of life was received from Edan.”
Netanyahu said he felt the family’s agony and that “Israel is working with determination and in every way to bring them home, along with all those kidnapped who are in the hands of the enemy.”
A spokesman for the White House National Security Council, Sean Savett, called the video “a cruel reminder of Hamas’ terror against citizens of many countries, including ours” and said he had contacted Edan’s family.
The spokesman commented that Hamas was to blame for refusing until now to make a deal to release the hostages.
However, he added that a deal was “on the table now” and that “as (President Joe Biden) said last week, we have a critical opportunity to complete the deal to free the hostages, stop the war and increase humanitarian assistance 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 Mother of Israeli-American hostage says she was shaken by Hamas video on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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