Hamas’s armed wing released a video on Saturday showing two Israeli hostages alive in the Gaza Strip, with one of the two men calling to end the 19-month-long war.
The duo was pinpointed by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum advocacy organization as Elkana Bohbot and Yosef Haim Ohana, who were abducted during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault on Israel, which ignited the conflict.
The undated three-minute video clip released by Hamas’s Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades depicts one of the captives, 36-year-old Bohbot, who looks frail and is seen lying on the ground covered with a blanket.
The second captive, Ohana, who is 24 years old, speaks in Hebrew asking the Israeli government to put an end to the conflict in Gaza and ensure the liberation of all remaining hostages—a request echoing those previously made by other captives, presumably coerced into making such statements, as shown in earlier videos shared by Hamas.
In a statement, Bohbot’s family expressed that “Elkana and Yosef urgently cry out for rescue. Despite the entire nation of Israel hearing their pleas, a select few policymakers choose not to heed them,” which reflects the family’s frustration with the Israeli government over its failure to secure the release of the captives.
“The question remains: how much longer can we tolerate this? And how much more can they withstand? Their continued presence is shameful,” stated the family.
On late Saturday, protesters in Israel assembled outside the defense ministry headquarters in the coastal city of Tel Aviv. They were advocating for the liberation of the hostages and the cessation of the war.
WARNEWS images displayed protesters carrying photos of the hostages along with signs that said “We Can Save The Rest” and “All Of Them Now.”
– Uncertainty –
Bohbot, who is Colombian-Israeli, appeared tied up with injuries to his face in video evidence from the day of the Hamas assault. His relatives have voiced worries over his wellbeing.
Bohbot and Ohana, both abducted by Palestinian militants from the site of a music festival, are among 58 hostages held in Gaza since the 2023 attack, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Hamas also holds the remains of an Israeli soldier killed in a 2014 war.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Wednesday that the status of three hostages believed to still be alive remains uncertain, without identifying them.
“We know with certainty that 21 hostages are alive… and there are three others whose status, sadly, we do not know,” Netanyahu said in a video shared on his Telegram channel.
Israel resumed its military offensive across the Gaza Strip on March 18, after a two-month truce that saw the release of dozens of hostages.
Following the breakdown of the ceasefire, Hamas has put out multiple videos showing hostages, with footage from Saturday featuring two individuals.
Israel states that the new offensive seeks to compel Hamas to release the remaining hostages. However, critics argue this approach endangers their lives.
The Hamas assault in October 2023 led to the death of 1,218 individuals on the Israeli side, primarily civilians, as per a WARNEWStally derived from official data.
The health authority under Hamas-controlled Gaza reported on Saturday that at least 2,701 individuals have lost their lives since Israel restarted its operations in Gaza. This raises the total fatality count from the start of the conflict to 52,810.
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