Hamas’s army wing launched a video on Saturday of Liri Albagh, one in every of about 250 individuals taken hostage by the group in its assault on Israel, as Israeli officers and Hamas representatives held further rounds of oblique mediated ceasefire talks in Qatar.
An estimated 100 hostages are nonetheless being held in Gaza practically 15 months after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assaults that sparked Israel’s struggle on Gaza. Negotiations for his or her launch broke down after a week-long truce in November 2023, which allowed the discharge of 105 Israeli and international prisoners.
Ms. Albagh, 19, served in a surveillance unit tasked with monitoring potential threats alongside the Gaza border. Throughout the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel, Palestinian militants overran the army base the place she served, killing greater than 60 troopers and abducting Ms Albagh and 6 different feminine troopers.
The video, posted on Saturday, was edited and included Ms Albaugh talking for about three and a half minutes. Ms Albagh mentioned she had been detained for greater than 450 days, however this might not be definitively confirmed.
In an announcement, Ms Albagh’s household mentioned her “severe psychological misery was evident” within the video and the footage had “torn our hearts to items”. They requested leaders to “make selections as if your personal youngsters have been there.”
“She is barely tens of kilometers away from us, however for 456 days we’ve got not been in a position to deliver her dwelling,” the household mentioned.
Human rights teams have said Hamas’s observe of constructing and releasing movies of hostages is inhumane and will quantity to a struggle crime. Israeli authorities have described the observe as a type of psychological warfare.
Either side are beneath strain from the incoming Trump administration to achieve ceasefire agreements and the discharge of the hostages as quickly as doable. President-elect Donald J. Trump has warned there will likely be “HELL TO PAY” until the hostages are launched by the point he takes workplace on January 20.
However Mr Trump didn’t element how he would break the impasse between Israel and Hamas. Either side have made seemingly irreconcilable calls for of their months of negotiations, thwarting quite a few diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration.
On Friday night, Hamas mentioned its officers have been resuming conferences within the Qatari capital Doha to achieve a ceasefire settlement with Israel to launch the hostages. In an announcement, the group reiterated its long-standing calls for that Israel finish the struggle and withdraw from Gaza.
Israel mentioned earlier this week it was additionally sending a delegation of mid-level safety officers to fulfill with mediators in Qatar. However it’s removed from clear that Israel’s leaders are prepared to fulfill Hamas’s phrases. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that the struggle is not going to finish till Hamas is destroyed in Gaza.
Households of Israeli hostages worry that on daily basis their family members stay in captivity could possibly be their final. After the discharge of the video that includes Ms. Albaugh, the headquarters of the Hostage Households Discussion board, an advocacy group, known as on either side to fulfill Mr. Trump’s deadline.
“Each day within the Hamas hell in Gaza is an imminent danger of demise for the dwelling hostages,” the group mentioned in an announcement. “Sixteen days stay till the ultimatum issued by President-elect Trump. We should not lose this historic alternative.”
Israel continued its army marketing campaign in Gaza on Saturday. The enclave’s civil protection, a rescue company beneath the Hamas-run inside ministry, reported a number of airstrikes that killed a minimum of 11 individuals and left greater than 20 lacking beneath rubble throughout the enclave. The company doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its mixture knowledge. There was no instant remark from the Israeli army.
