Hamas releases new video showing hostage

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Hamas’ armed wing published a video Saturday of an American-Israeli hostage held in Gaza since the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

In the video, whose date cannot be verified, Edan Alexander addresses United States President-elect Donald Trump in English and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Hebrew.

He calls on Israelis to put pressure on the government to secure the release of the hostages seized on 7 October.

“This video has upset me, but beyond the hope it gives us, it shows how bad the situation is for Edan and the other hostages and how much they are crying out and hoping to be saved now,” his mother, Yael Alexander, said during a speech at a rally for the hostages in Tel Aviv Saturday evening.

Telling the crowd she had spoken to Netanyahu, she added: “You must keep your promise and free them. This state is strong enough to end the war and bring them all back, including my Edan.”

In a statement, Netanyahu’s office said that during their call, the prime minister had “promised that Israel is determined to take every action to bring them back home, together with all of the hostages held by the enemy.”

Netanyahu also described the video’s release as “cruel psychological warfare.”

In the US, White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett called the video “a cruel reminder of Hamas’ terror.”

“The war in Gaza would stop tomorrow and the suffering of Gazans would end... if Hamas agreed to release the hostages,” Savett said in a statement.

The Hostage Families Forum campaign group, meanwhile, reiterated its calls for the hostages’ release.

“One year after the first and only deal, it’s clear to everyone: returning the hostages is only possible through a deal,” it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Hamas is open to discussing “all ideas and proposals,” a senior official of the Palestinian militant group told Agence France-Presse, as representatives arrived in Cairo Saturday for talks on a possible ceasefire in Gaza.

The group has “not received any new offer or proposal so far,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.

But Hamas “is open to discussing all ideas and proposals that lead to the end of the war, Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced, the entry of humanitarian and relief aid, and a serious deal to exchange prisoners,” he said.

The talks come after a ceasefire went into effect Wednesday between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, after a US-led effort to broker a truce.