As the remaining hostages in Gaza marked their 700th day in captivity on Friday, the Hamas terrorist organization published a propaganda video showing hostages Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, and Alon Ohel, 24, driving in Gaza City.
The publication of the video was apparently aimed at influencing Israeli public opinion as the IDF steps up its operation in Gaza City.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that the families had not given their consent for the video to be released to the public, but Gilboa-Dalal’s family released a 28-second clip from the video in which Ohel did not appear. In it, he says that the date is Aug. 28.
“All we want is for this to end. We want to return to our families. Please, bring us back,” he says in the clip.
‘Deeply concerned to our very core’
In the video, Gilboa-Dalal is seen being driven in a car and meeting Ohel near the Red Cross headquarters in Gaza City, saying that he can’t believe he is still alive after 22 months of captivity and telling Ohel, “I can’t believe I’m seeing you.”
Gilboa-Dalal, from Alfei Menashe in western Samaria, was last seen in a video published by Hamas during a ceasefire in February, when the terrorist group forced him and another captive, Evyatar David, to watch the release of other hostages.
Details about Ohel’s condition emerged some time ago from former Hamas captives Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Eliya Cohen, who were held with him and were part of a group of 25 hostages and eight deceased released during the first phase of a Jan. 19 ceasefire. They revealed that Ohel, from Lavon in the Upper Galilee, had been injured by shrapnel and blinded in his right eye. His family permitted the release of an image of him from the video.
Meanwhile, in response to briefings from IDF officers in the Coordinating Unit for the Hostages and the Missing indicating that the current Gaza City operation will increase the risks to living hostages, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a statement saying it was “deeply concerned to our very core.”
“This operation puts our loved ones in immediate and direct danger as they languish in the depths of Hamas tunnels for 700 days,” it said.
It demanded immediate negotiations based on U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff’s proposal for a comprehensive deal that would return home all 48 hostages, alive and dead.
“There is a deal on the table. This is what will bring back the last hostage. This is what will end the war,” the forum said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “spoke at length with the parents of hostages Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Alon Ohel and reiterated his support for them in light of the cruel propaganda video released by Hamas,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
It said Netanyahu emphasized again that the war could end immediately, based on the conditions set by Israel:
1. The release of all hostages, living and deceased.
2. The disarming of Hamas.
3. The demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.
4. Israeli security control in the Strip.
5. The establishment of an alternative civilian administration in Gaza that will not constitute a threat to Israel.
“No evil propaganda video will weaken us or divert us from our determination to achieve these goals,” Netanyahu concluded.
