1 of 1 Three Israeli hostages appear in Hamas images at a location given as Gaza. This image is from a video published on December 18, 2023. — Photo: Hamas Military Wing/Handout via Portal Three Israeli hostages appear in Hamas images in a The location is given as Gaza, in this image from a video released on December 18, 2023. Photo: Hamas Military Wing/Handout via Portal
The armed wing of Hamas published this Monday (18) a recording on Telegram in which three hostages, elderly Israelis, demand their release. Israel condemned the message as a “criminal and terrorist video.”
The three men were identified by Israel as Chaim Peri, 79, Yoram Metzger, 80, and Amiram Cooper, 84. They were kidnapped by Hamas along with 240 other people more than ten weeks ago.
In the video, the men appear with long beards, thin and emaciated. Peri, sitting in the middle, speaks to the camera and says that he and other elderly hostages who have health problems are “suffering a lot in very harsh conditions.”
“We are the generation that laid the foundation for the founding of Israel. We were the ones who founded the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). We don’t understand why we were abandoned here,” he said. “You have to free us from here. No matter what it costs. We do not want to become victims as a direct result of the IDF's military airstrikes. Release us unconditionally. Let’s not grow old here.”
Metzger's daughterinlaw, Ayala Metzger, said she felt both joy and shock when she saw the video.
“It was a joy to see them alive for a moment,” she said, but added: “It was shocking to see them like that,” with their beards grown, lost in weight and weak and pale.
Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the images showed “Hamas' cruelty towards very old, innocent civilians in need of medical care.”
“Chaim, Yoram and Amiram. I hope you listen to me tonight,” Hagari said in a televised press conference. “You know, we’re doing everything, everything, to make sure you return safely.”