Hamas releases video of 2 hostages while it mulls cease-fire offer
Hamas released a video Saturday showing two hostages alive as it studied Israel’s latest proposal for a cease-fire, in an apparent bid to increase pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call off a major offensive that would deepen the war in Gaza.
The Palestinian militant group’s military wing posted a video showing the American Israeli citizen Keith Siegel, 64, and the Israeli Omri Miran,
47, who spoke briefly in the video.
Israel’s offer of a ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages is in response to the group’s position delivered to mediators on April 13, senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya said in a statement. The group will submit a response once it has finished studying it, he said, offering no specific timeline.
In recent days, the U.S. and 17 other nations pressed Hamas to release all hostages, including those nations’ citizens held in Gaza, in a bid to revive talks that have stalled, and to unlock more humanitarian aid for the coastal enclave. Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., the European Union and others.
Netanyahu has faced increasing calls to reach a truce with Hamas amid international fears about his plans for an attack on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where a million refugees are sheltering.
Israel has long signaled an intention to launch a ground operation in Rafah to achieve its goal of destroying Hamas. Israeli military officials estimate that 5,000 to 8,000 Hamas fighters are holed up there, along with some of its leaders, representing the last line of its defense.
Protests inside Israel over the fate of the hostages are also escalating, especially since Hamas released a recent video of a 23-year-old U.S.-Israeli citizen whose mother has been the most prominent campaigner for the detainees’ release.