A sign of life. The armed wing of Hamas published this Saturday, December 7, a new video of one of the Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023 during the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israel from the Gaza Strip.
The video, approximately 3 minutes and 30 seconds long, whose recording date cannot be verified, shows a young man speaking in Hebrew and asking for pressure on the Israeli government to obtain his release. The family of young Matan Zangauker, who was 24 years old at the time of the Hamas attack, authorized the publication of the video.
His mother calls for a ceasefire
Matan Zangauker was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his Israeli-Mexican companion Ilana Gritzewsky. The latter was released on November 30, 2023 during a truce.
“Just because Matan is still alive today does not mean he will survive the winter or the continued military pressure. The only way to bring Matan back is to establish a ceasefire,” his mother, Einav Zangauker, said during a rally in. Tel Aviv for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Please give everything you can in the negotiations to reach an agreement that will bring everyone back and end the war,” he pleaded.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian armed movement that participated in the unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023, have already released hostage videos since the start of the war.
This new video is “proof of life,” believes the Families Forum, the main association of hostage families. It also illustrates how “crucial” it is to obtain their release because their lives “hang in the balance,” the group said in a news release.
Towards a return to truce negotiations
The dissemination of these images occurs at a time when signals are multiplying about a possible resumption of negotiations with a view to a truce.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, only a one-week truce has come into force, in November 2023, during which 105 hostages were freed under an agreement that also allowed the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Since then, the Israeli army has freed seven hostages and negotiations for a truce have remained stalled for months.
Among the hostages, in addition to Israelis, there are also foreigners, six Thais and one Nepalese, and several with dual nationality.
During the attack by Hamas commandos, 251 people were kidnapped on Israeli soil. A total of 96 hostages remain in Gaza, 34 of whom were declared dead by the army.
Source: BFM TV
