Hamas posts video of 3 elderly Israeli hostages
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Three elderly Israeli hostages were seized with about 240 others during Hamas' Oct 7 rampage.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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CAIRO – Hamas released a short video on Dec 18 showing three elderly Israeli hostages whom the Islamist group seized during its Oct 7 rampage.
The three men – identified by Israel as 79-year-old Chaim Peri, 80-year-old Yoram Metzger and 84-year-old Amiram Cooper – were taken hostage more than 10 weeks ago with about 240 others by Hamas infiltrators who carried out a killing spree in Israeli communities.
The three men, all with beards, are seen sitting together in the video, which Hamas posted to messaging platform Telegram.
Sitting in the middle, Mr Peri speaks to the camera, saying he and other elderly hostages who have health issues are “suffering greatly in very harsh conditions”.
He pleaded for Israel to secure their unconditional release.
Mr Peri was at his house in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas attack. He tried to repel the gunmen while hiding his wife behind a sofa, his son later told Reuters. He eventually gave himself up to save his wife, who remained hidden.
Mr Metzger’s daughter-in-law Ayala Metzger said she felt both joy and shock when she saw the video.
“It was joy for a moment to see them alive,” she said, but added that “it was shocking to see them like this”, with grown-out beards, having lost weight and looking weak and pale.
Military spokesman Daniel Hagari called it “a criminal, terrorist video” that shows “Hamas’ cruelty against very elderly civilians, innocents who need medical care”.
“Chaim, Yoram and Amiram, I hope that you hear me this evening,” Rear-Admiral Hagari said in a televised briefing. “Know this – we are doing everything, everything, in order to return you back safely.”
Israel and Hamas agreed to a week-long ceasefire at the end of November,
Some of the hostages who remain in Gaza have been declared dead in absentia by the Israeli authorities.
Mr Cooper and Mr Metzger, seen in the Dec 18 video and also from Nir Oz, were captured along with their wives, both of whom were returned to Israel during the truce.
Efforts are under way to try to arrange for the release of more hostages, with the heads of the US Central Intelligence Agency and Israel’s Mossad, as well as the Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, expected to meet and discuss the issue. REUTERS
