image source, hostage video
Hamas has released a video showing the first proof of survival of two more hostages held in Gaza.
In the undated footage, Omri Milan says he has been in captivity for 202 days, and Keith Siegel mentions the Passover holiday, indicating that the clip was recently filmed.
Both were captured when Hamas launched a deadly attack on October 7.
Following the video, their families called on the Israeli government to reach a new hostage release agreement.
Mr. Siegel, a U.S. citizen, was kidnapped along with his wife Aviva, but they were released in November during a brief ceasefire.
“Keith, I love you and we will fight until you come back,” Keith's wife, Aviva, said in a video statement. Earlier this month, she told the BBC how her captors left her in a tunnel while transporting a couple to a location. At the time of her interview, she said she did not know if Keith was still alive.
His daughter Ilan said: “Meeting my father today only emphasizes to all of us that we must reach a deal and bring everyone home as soon as possible.''I urge the leaders of this country to watch this video.'' “I demand to see my father screaming.” help. “
“When I watched the video, I could see that my father knew that we came to the meetings every week and were fighting for him and all the POWs,” said Seal, another daughter.
Omri Milan's father, Dani Milan, called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “approve all viable agreements.”
“I ask for a small, bloodless step for both peoples,” he said, adding, “All Israelis and the nations of the world want an end to the bloodshed, and especially an end to the suffering of their own people.” .
image source, Hostage Family Forum Headquarters
The headquarters of the Hostage Families Forum said the video was “the clearest evidence that the Israeli government must do everything possible to approve an agreement for the return of all hostages.”
This follows another survival video released by the group earlier this week, in which a short clip showed Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg Pollin, 23, with his lower left arm removed. It was blown away when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7.
In response, his mother and father also appealed for further steps to be taken to obtain a new hostage release agreement.
The Sigels were kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Azha on October 7, when Hamas attacked an Israeli community near Gaza, and Milan was taken prisoner from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
In a video released by the Hamas militant group, Mr. Siegel, 64, and Mr. Milan, 46, appeal to the Israeli government to agree to a ceasefire and hostage release agreement with Hamas after receiving threats. .
“I have been here for 202 days in Hamas detention. The conditions here are unpleasant and difficult, and there are a lot of bombs,” Milan was quoted as saying.
The new video was released as Hamas said it was considering Israel's latest ceasefire proposal. According to media reports, mediator Egypt has sent a delegation to Israel in a bid to give fresh impetus to stalled negotiations.
Weeks of indirect negotiations failed to reach an agreement. Hamas rejected an earlier offer for a six-week ceasefire in exchange for the release of the remaining 40 hostages.
The group has long argued that any agreement must include a permanent end to the war, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and unlimited return of displaced people. Israel says it needs to destroy Hamas in the Gaza Strip and free the hostages.
Israel is proceeding with plans to attack the area despite warnings that it could have devastating humanitarian consequences for the 1.5 million Palestinian refugees sheltering in Rafah, southern Gaza. It seems so.
About 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack, and the group took about 250 hostages. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli retaliatory operations in Gaza, the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health has announced.
Under the deal agreed in November, Hamas will release 105 hostages, most of them women and children, in exchange for a one-week ceasefire and about 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. Became. Approximately 133 hostages are believed to remain in Gaza, and approximately 30 of them are thought to have died.
