Hamas has released a video of a 19-year-old Israeli hostage amid a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza.
In an undated recording, Liri Albag – one of five female soldiers kidnapped in Hamas’s October 7 attack – speaks under duress and shares her anguish at having been held for 450 days.
Speaking in Hebrew, she calls for the Israeli government to secure her release and says: “Today is the beginning of a new year; the whole world is celebrating. Only we are entering a dark year, a year of loneliness.”
Ms Albag – who has turned 19 while being held hostage – adds that a fellow, unnamed captive has been injured. “We are living in an extremely terrifying nightmare,” she says.
The teenager’s family said the video has “torn our hearts to pieces”.
“This is not the daughter and sister we know. Her severe psychological distress is evident,” they said in a statement shared by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
The family has not given permission for the video of Ms Albag to be shared publicly but they have authorised the release of two photos.
Ms Albag’s loved ones are calling on the Israeli government and world leaders to use the current ceasefire talks to bring all remaining hostages back alive.
“It’s time to make decisions as if your own children were there,” they said.
The office for Israel‘s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he has spoken Ms Albag’s parents and told them efforts to bring hostages home are “ongoing, including at this very moment”.
“Anyone who dares to harm our hostages will bear full responsibility for their actions,” he said.
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Timeline of events since October 7 attack
Gaza’s health system ‘on brink of collapse’
Roughly 250 people were taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October 2023 and as of December last year, 96 remained in the group’s custody.
Israel’s subsequent military offensive in Gaza has killed at least 45,805 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
It said 88 people have been killed in the past 24 hours. At least 17 were killed in airstrikes on homes in Gaza City on Saturday.
Several children were among those who died, medics said.
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Hamas’s video of Ms Albag, and Israel’s airstrikes, come amid a fresh push for an agreement to end the conflict in Gaza.
Israeli representatives arrived in Doha, Qatar, on Friday to resume indirect ceasefire talks brokered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
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Hamas has said it is committed to reaching an agreement, but it is unclear how close the two sides are.
Joe Biden, whose US presidency comes to an end in just over a fortnight’s time, has urged Hamas to agree a deal – while president-elect Donald Trump has said there will “be hell to pay” in Gaza if the hostages are not released before his inauguration on 20 January.
