A video showing an Israeli hostage alive, removed on October 7, 2023 during the attack on Hamas and retained in the Gaza Strip, was broadcast this Saturday, April 12, by the armed branch of Hamas. It was identified by the Israeli media as the Israeli-American Edan Alexander.
The video, broadcast by the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades, lasts a little more than three minutes and shows it seated in a cramped room. AFP could not verify its authenticity or the date of its registration.
Addressing the camera, the hostage says he wants to go home to celebrate the holidays. Israel is currently celebrating Jewish Passover which commemorates the release of the Jewish people from slavery that he suffered in Egypt. Gesturing frequently with the hands, he criticizes the Israeli government for not having yet obtained his release.
A first video at the end of March
At the end of March, Hamas had already published a video of two Israeli hostages alive. The two men, identified by AFP as being Elkana Bohbot and Yossef-Haïm Ohana, were both kidnapped at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023.
Of the 251 people kidnapped during the attack on October 7, 58 are still retained in Gaza, 34 of which died according to the Israeli army.
A truce concluded under the aegis of the United States, Egypt and Qatar, between January 19 and March 17, allowed the return of 33 hostages, including eight dead, in exchange for the liberation by Israel of some 1,800 Palestinian prisoners.