By Deutsche Welle
Apr 27, 2024, 7:08 PM EDT
The Islamist group Hamas, considered terrorist by the European Union, published this Saturday a new propaganda video in which two hostages appear alive, of the 129 who continue to be held in Gaza after more than 200 days of armed conflict with Israel, in which They ask the Israeli Government for a truce agreement so they can return home.
In the recording, which lasts just over three minutes, you can see the hostages Keith Siegel, a 64-year-old American citizen, whose wife was also kidnapped from the Kfar Aza kibbutz and released during the November truce, and the captive Omri Miran, 46 years old and kidnapped on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz, according to the Israeli press.
Siegel appears crying, and although it is not possible to know if the recording is recent, the American mentions Passover, in reference to the current Jewish Passover that is celebrated these days in Israel, while Miran says he has been captive for 202 days. On April 24, the Islamist group published a first video in which Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, appeared criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for not doing enough to free them.
Increase efforts
The Israeli Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons, an organization that represents the relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, considered that the release of this video should encourage the Netanyahu government, in indirect negotiations with Hamas with a view to a truce in the military conflict in Gaza, to increase its efforts to free all the hostages.
“The proof of life of Keith Siegel and Omri Miran is the clearest evidence that the Israeli government must do everything possible to approve an agreement for the return of all hostages before Independence Day (May 14)” , he pointed. “The living must return for recovery and the murdered must receive a dignified burial,” the entity added.
In the October 7 attack, Islamist commandos kidnapped about 250 people, about a hundred of whom were freed during a week-long truce in late November. Israel estimates that 129 remained in Gaza, 34 of whom have since died.