Palestinian terrorists have released disturbing new hostage videos of a 13-year-old boy and an elderly woman who were kidnapped during the storming of their kibbutz on October 7.
Hannah Katzir, 77, and teenager Yagil Yaakov were both kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz as terrorists invaded Israel from Gaza, slaughtering over 1,400 people and taking about 240 hostage.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group has now released its first “signs of life” videos from each of the prisoners. The hostages look emaciated and exhausted as they speak to the camera, Hannah appears to be sitting in a wheelchair.
Both sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and blamed him for the current situation. It’s not clear if they’re reading from a script.
The PIJ – which is allied with but separate from Hamas – released another video claiming it was ready to release the couple on “humanitarian and medical grounds” but only if “appropriate measures” were taken .
Palestinian militants of the Islamic Jihad movement take part in an anti-Israel military parade in Gaza City, October 4, 2023 (file image)
Yagil’s mother previously said she feared her son and his older brother were being held in one of the terrorists’ underground tunnels. Pictured: Excerpt from an animated video about the boys’ kidnapping
Renana Gome said the last thing she heard Yagil say was: “Don’t take me, I’m too young.” Pictured: Excerpt from an animated video about the boys’ abduction
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group has now released its first “signs of life” videos from each of the prisoners
Israel has condemned it as psychological warfare and refused to respond to PIJ claims that it would soon release hostages.
“This is a sign of life and it is important,” Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said when asked about the videos.
“I will ignore the issue of their release for now… We will be the first to update the families before anything happens.”
Yagil was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 along with his 16-year-old brother Or.
The boys had been sleeping and alone at home when terrorists launched their barbaric attack on their village.
They locked themselves in a safe room and called their mother, Renana Gome, who had survived an attack on another kibbutz where she lived with her daughter.
The boys’ mother said they were “scared to death” and had to whisper to her on the phone as she heard voices in Arabic in the background.
Yagil’s older brother tried desperately to keep the door closed as the terrorists forced their way in.
The last thing she heard Yagil say was, “Don’t take me, I’m too young.”
Yocheved Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper were released by Hamas terrorists on October 23
Renana has since shared her harrowing account of the horrific day in an animated short film, detailing what happened to her sons, who she fears are being held in one of the terrorists’ underground tunnels.
“I hope that they are together, that they strengthen each other and that they are with other children,” she said after her sons were abducted.
The hostage videos are the first released by the PIJ, while several hostages were filmed by Hamas speaking from captivity.
The first video released by the terrorists showed 21-year-old Mia Schem, who was brutally shot as Hamas stormed the Nova music festival and slaughtered around 260 people there.
She appears hurt in the heartbreaking video message in which she pleads with the Israeli government: “I’m just asking you to get me out of here as quickly as possible. Please.”
Hamas has so far released four of the approximately 240 hostages it is holding with the help of Qatar’s mediation.
Late last month, American mother Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie were freed by the terrorists.
Posters depicting kidnapped Israeli Dafna Elyakim and Israeli-Argentinian citizens Yuval and Ronan Engel are seen as people gather outside the Qatari embassy in London on October 29, 2023
A few days later, 85-year-old grandmother Yocheved Lifshitz and Nurit Cooper – also known as Nurit Yitzhak – were returned to Israel.
Many of the desperate families of those still detained have called on Israel to agree to a free-for-all prisoner swap and to release some of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons.
The White House announced today that Israel has agreed to implement four-hour daily humanitarian pauses to free hostages in its attack on Hamas in northern Gaza.
Smoke rises from the city of Sderot following Israeli airstrikes on Thursday, November 9th
This image taken from the Israeli side of the Gaza border shows flares being fired by Israeli troops
National security adviser John Kirby said: “Israel will begin implementing four-hour breaks in areas of the northern Gaza Strip each day, with notice to be given three hours in advance.”
“The Israelis have informed us that there will be no military operations in these areas during the duration of the pause (and) that this process begins today.”
He said the breaks could help “return all 239 hostages with their families, including the fewer than 10 Americans we know are being held.” So if we can free all the hostages, that’s a nice, finite one Goal.
Joe Biden said it took “longer than I hoped” to push through the humanitarian pauses
“Humanitarian breaks can be useful in the transfer process.”
President Joe Biden revealed he had also asked the Israelis for a “pause of more than three days” in a sign of dwindling patience behind the scenes between allies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted there will be no ceasefire as long as Hamas continues to hold the hostages.
Mr. Biden said it took “a little longer” than he had hoped for Israel to agree to the daily pauses in fighting, adding that there was “no possibility” for a formal ceasefire for now.
Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza are heading south on Thursday, hours before a pause in fighting was announced
A family huddles in the ruins of their home, which was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah
The push for an evacuation window reflected growing concern among Israel’s international allies and critics over the rising civilian death toll since fighting broke out last month.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry said yesterday that 10,812 people, including 4,412 children, have been killed in Gaza since Israel declared war after October 7.
In a further sign that Israel’s window of legitimacy to continue its war was beginning to close, French President Emmanuel Macron opened a Gaza aid conference yesterday with a call for Israel to protect civilians never to be carried out without rules.
During a visit to Saudi Arabia, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said calls for a ceasefire were “understandable” but Britain recognized that Israel was acting “for its own security.”