Hamas's military wing released a video on Saturday of Liri Albagh, one of about 250 people taken hostage during the group's attack on Israel, as Israeli and Hamas officials held the next round of indirect ceasefire talks through mediators in Qatar.
Nearly 100 people have been held hostage in Gaza for nearly 15 months since Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023 triggered Israel's war on Gaza. Talks to free them stalled after a week-long ceasefire in November 2023 that allowed the release of 105 Israeli and foreign prisoners.
19-year-old Ms. Albaq served in the guard unit tasked with monitoring possible threats on the border with Gaza. During the Hamas attack on southern Israel, Palestinian fighters captured the military base where she served, killed more than 60 soldiers, and kidnapped Mrs. Albaq and 6 other female soldiers.
The video released on Saturday was edited and featured about three and a half minutes of Ms. Albag's speech. Mrs. Albag said that she has been in prison for more than 450 days, but it cannot be confirmed definitively.
In a statement, Mrs. Albag's family said that her “serious psychological distress is clearly visible” in the video, and that the footage “broke our hearts.” They asked leaders to “make decisions as if your own children were there.”
“He is tens of kilometers away from us, but we have not been able to bring him home for 456 days,” the family said.
There are human rights groups he said Hamas's practice of producing and distributing hostage videos amounted to inhumane treatment that could amount to a war crime. Israeli officials have called this practice a form of psychological warfare.
Both sides are under pressure from the incoming Trump administration to agree to a ceasefire and the early release of hostages. US President-elect Donald Trump has warned that there will be “ALL HELL TO PAY” if the hostages are not released before his inauguration on January 20.
But Mr. Trump did not elaborate on how he would resolve the impasse between Israel and Hamas. Both sides have made seemingly irreconcilable demands in months of negotiations, thwarting numerous diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration.
On Friday night, Hamas said its officials were resuming meetings in the Qatari capital Doha to reach a ceasefire deal with Israel to free the hostages. In a statement, the group reiterated its long-standing demands for Israel to end the war and withdraw from Gaza.
Israel said earlier this week it was also sending a delegation of mid-level security officials to meet with mediators in Qatar. However, it is not clear whether the Israeli leaders are ready to fulfill the conditions of Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed that the war will not end until Hamas is destroyed in Gaza.
Families of Israeli hostages fear that every day their loved ones remain in captivity could be their last. After the release of Ms. Albag's video, the headquarters of the Hostage Families Forum, an advocacy group, called on both sides to meet Mr. Trump's deadline.
The group said in a statement: “Every day in the hellhole of Hamas, live hostages pose an immediate risk of death. “Sixteen days remain until President-elect Trump's ultimatum. We must not lose this historic window of opportunity.”
Israel continues its military campaign in Gaza on Saturday. The enclave's Civil Defense, a rescue agency under the Hamas-run interior ministry, reported several airstrikes in the enclave that left at least 11 dead and more than 20 missing in rubble. The agency generally does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli army.