Hamas releases video of Israeli hostage in Gaza
The Palestinian militant group Hamas released a video on Saturday of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza since its October 2023 attack.
In the undated, three-and-half-minute video recording, 19-year-old soldier Liri Albag called in Hebrew for the Israeli government to secure her release.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a campaign group for relatives of those abducted, said Albag’s family has not authorized publication of the video.
The conscript was 18 when she was captured by Palestinian militants at the Nahal Oz base on the Gaza border.
Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have released a number of videos of Israeli hostages in their custody during nearly 15 months of fighting in Gaza.
The militants seized 251 hostages during the 2023 attack, of whom 96 remain in Gaza. The Israeli military says 34 of those are dead.
Hamas said late on Friday that indirect negotiations with Israel for a truce and hostage release deal were to resume in Qatar that same night. There has since been no update.
Mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been engaged in months of effort that have failed to end the war.
Weekly demonstrations organized by the hostages forum have kept up the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring the hostages home.
On Thursday, Netanyahu’s office said he had authorized Israeli negotiators to join the latest round of talks in Qatar.
With AFP
