عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Hamas Releases Video of US-Israeli Hostage in Gaza

Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American hostage kidnapped in the deadly October 7 2023 attack pleads for US President-elect Donald Trump to secure his release amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in this screen grab taken from a Handout video by Hamas Military Wing released on November 30, 2024. - Reuters
Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American hostage kidnapped in the deadly October 7 2023 attack pleads for US President-elect Donald Trump to secure his release amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in this screen grab taken from a Handout video by Hamas Military Wing released on November 30, 2024. - Reuters
TT
TT

Hamas Releases Video of US-Israeli Hostage in Gaza

Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American hostage kidnapped in the deadly October 7 2023 attack pleads for US President-elect Donald Trump to secure his release amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in this screen grab taken from a Handout video by Hamas Military Wing released on November 30, 2024. - Reuters
Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American hostage kidnapped in the deadly October 7 2023 attack pleads for US President-elect Donald Trump to secure his release amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in this screen grab taken from a Handout video by Hamas Military Wing released on November 30, 2024. - Reuters

Palestinian group Hamas released a video of an Israeli-American hostage on Saturday, in which he pleads for US President-elect Donald Trump to secure his release.

Yael Alexander, the mother of hostage Edan Alexander, said she was shaken by the 3-1/2-minute video, which showed the 20-year-old captive looking pale, seated in a dark space against a wall. He identified himself and addressed his family, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump.

The video "gives us hope, but it also shows how difficult it is for Edan and for the other hostages, and how much they are crying out and praying for us to rescue them," his mother said at a Tel Aviv rally calling for the hostages' release.

"My dear, beloved Edan, we miss you painfully," she said before she called on Israel's leaders to end the war in Gaza and make a deal with Hamas to release the hostages.

Netanyahu said in a statement that the video was cruel psychological warfare and that he had told Alexander's family in a phone call that Israel was working tirelessly to bring the hostages home.

Alexander, a soldier at the time of his abduction, was taken to Gaza during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on southern Israel.

Around half of the 101 foreign and Israeli hostages still held incommunicado in Gaza are believed to be alive.

Hamas leaders were expected to arrive in Cairo on Saturday for ceasefire talks with Egyptian officials to explore ways to reach a deal that could secure the release of hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners.

The fresh bid comes after Washington said this week it was reviving efforts toward that goal.

The Biden administration, in office until Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration, said it is working "around the clock" to secure the release of US citizens held hostage by Hamas.

"We have a critical opportunity to conclude the deal to release the hostages, stop the war, and surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza," said White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett. "This deal is on the table now."

The Hostages Families Forum urged the administrations of both outgoing President Joe Biden and Trump to step up efforts to secure a hostage release.

"The hostages' lives hang by a thread," it said.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

At Least 25 Killed as Russian, Syrian Jets Intensify Bombing of Syrian Opposition Territory

An ambulance rushes to the scene of a Syrian regime airforce strike that targeted a neighborhood in Syria's opposition-held northern city of Idlib on December 1, 2024.(Photo by MUHAMMAD HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
An ambulance rushes to the scene of a Syrian regime airforce strike that targeted a neighborhood in Syria's opposition-held northern city of Idlib on December 1, 2024.(Photo by MUHAMMAD HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
TT
TT

At Least 25 Killed as Russian, Syrian Jets Intensify Bombing of Syrian Opposition Territory

An ambulance rushes to the scene of a Syrian regime airforce strike that targeted a neighborhood in Syria's opposition-held northern city of Idlib on December 1, 2024.(Photo by MUHAMMAD HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
An ambulance rushes to the scene of a Syrian regime airforce strike that targeted a neighborhood in Syria's opposition-held northern city of Idlib on December 1, 2024.(Photo by MUHAMMAD HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

At least 25 people were killed in northwestern Syria in air strikes carried out by the Syrian government and Russia, the Syrian opposition-run rescue service known as the White Helmets said early on Monday.
Russian and Syrian jets struck the opposition-held city of Idlib in northern Syria on Sunday, military sources said, as President Bashar al-Assad vowed to crush insurgents who had swept into the city of Aleppo.
The army also said it had recaptured several towns that opposition factions had overrun in recent days.
Residents said one attack hit a crowded residential area in the center of Idlib, the largest city in an opposition enclave near the Turkish border where around four million people live in makeshift tents and dwellings.
At least seven people were killed and dozens injured, according to rescuers at the scene. The Syrian army and its ally Russia say they target the hideouts of insurgent groups and deny attacking civilians.
Ten children were among the dead in the air strikes in and around Idlib and other targets in opposition-held territory near Aleppo on Sunday, according to the White Helmets.
The total death toll from Syrian and Russian strikes since Nov. 27 had climbed to 56, including 20 children, the group added in a statement on X.
The insurgents are a coalition of Türkiye-backed mainstream secular armed groups along with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group that has been designated a terrorist outfit by the US, Russia, Türkiye and other states.
The insurgents seized control of all of Idlib province in recent days, the boldest opposition assault for years in a civil war where front lines had largely been frozen since 2020.
Insurgents also swept into the city of Aleppo, east of Idlib, on Friday night, forcing the army to redeploy.
In remarks published on state media, Assad said: "Terrorists only know the language of force and it is the language we will crush them with".
The Syrian army said dozens of its soldiers had been killed in the fighting in Aleppo.
Russian war bloggers reported on Sunday that Moscow had dismissed Sergei Kisel, the general in charge of its forces in Syria, after insurgents swept into Aleppo. Reuters has requested comment from the Russian defense ministry.
In a joint statement, the United States, France, Germany, and Britain urged "de-escalation by all parties and the protection of civilians and infrastructure to prevent further displacement and disruption of humanitarian access".
LEAVING ALEPPO
Inside Aleppo city, streets were mostly empty and many shops were closed on Sunday as scared residents stayed at home. There was still a heavy flow of civilians leaving the city, witnesses and residents said.
Opposition fighters waving the opposition flag drove through the city, Yusuf Khatib, a resident, told Reuters by phone. Some of the opposition took up positions on street intersections, he added.
Ahmad Tutenji, a merchant in the affluent New Aleppo neighborhood, said he was surprised how quickly the army left. "I am shocked at how they fled and abandoned us."
Abdullah al Halabi, a pensioner whose neighborhood was bombed near the central area of Qasr al Baladi, said people were terrified they would see a repeat of the Russian-led bombing that killed thousands of people before driving out the opposition a decade ago.
Syrian troops who had withdrawn from the city were now regrouping and reinforcements were also being sent to help in the counter-attack, army sources said.
Aleppo had been firmly held by the government since a 2016 victory there, one of the war's major turning points, when Russian-backed Syrian forces besieged and laid waste to opposition-held eastern areas of what had been the country's largest city.
The opposition said on Sunday they had pushed further south of Aleppo city and captured the town of Khansir in an attempt to cut the army's main supply route to Aleppo city.
Opposition sources said they had also captured Sheikh Najjar estate, one of the country's major industrial zones.
Reuters could not independently confirm the battlefield accounts.
The war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced many millions, has ground on since 2011 with no formal end. Most heavy fighting halted years ago after Iran-backed militias and Russian air power helped Assad win control of all major cities.
A lack of that manpower contributed to the speedy retreat of Syrian army forces in recent days, according to two army sources.
The opposition gains came after Israel stepped up its strikes on Iranian bases in Syria and Iran-backed Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. Militias allied to Iran, led by Hezbollah, have had a strong presence in the Aleppo area.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, visiting Damascus on Sunday, said the situation in Syria was "difficult" but the Assad government would prevail.