In a bid to pressure Israel into a ceasefire in Gaza, the terrorist group Hamas released a distressing video showing Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander.
Alexander, a former resident of Tenafly, NJ, was abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, and has been in captivity for 421 days.
Alexander remains mostly static throughout the three-minute long propaganda video, giving an impression that he is reading from a script. He is briefly shown crying and holding his hands over his head. The “message appears in Hebrew, English, and Arabic, repeating the wording of the title and accompanied by eerie music,” the Jerusalem Post reported. “The video then switches to footage of Alexander covering his face with his hands and crying.
The 20-year-old hostage can also be heard addressing President-Elect Donald Trump, and urging him to ‘use his influence’ to secure a ceasefire deal.
The Times of Israel reported the details of the disturbing clip:
The Hamas terror group has released a propaganda video showing signs of life from hostage Edan Alexander, 20, in the first video of its kind in months.The three-and-a-half-minute-long video is not dated, though Alexander states that he has been held for over 420 days. If true, it will have been filmed this week.Alexander, a US citizen, is a soldier who was stationed near the Gaza Strip on the morning of October 7 when he was taken captive by Hamas.Alexander was born in Tel Aviv, grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey, and joined Golani as a lone soldier after graduating from high school in 2022.In the clip, a gaunt-looking Alexander identifies himself and calls on the Israeli government to bring him home. In the second half of the video, Alexander speaks in English and calls on the incoming US administration to work for his release.
The Israeli military detected several ceasefire violations by the Hezbollah terror group in southern Lebanon as the Biden administration-backed truce entered its fourth day.
The Israel Defense Force (IDF) “struck multiple Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, citing threats to Israel and violations of the cease-fire agreement,” the Israeli news website YNET reported Saturday.
The IDF urged residents of southern Lebanon to stay away from areas along the Israeli border, which Hezbollah has been using to stage cross-border aerial attacks. “The military reiterated warnings to southern Lebanon residents to avoid areas south of the Litani River, as curfews from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. remain in effect,” the news website added.
Hezbollah’s “armed operatives were observed loading a vehicle with RPGs, boxes of ammunition, and other military equipment,” the IDF disclosed in a statement Saturday afternoon. “A short while later, the IAF struck the vehicle.”
“[T]errorists were also identified approaching Hezbollah structures in southern Lebanon,” the Israeli military said. “The IAF struck the terrorists. IDF forces subsequently located weapons, including grenades and guns, on the terrorists.”
On Saturday afternoon, “terrorist activity in a Hezbollah facility with rocket launchers was identified in the area of Sidon in southern Lebanon. The IAF struck the launchers,” the Israeli military said.
The Israeli Air Force also “conducted an intelligence-based strike on a military vehicle operating in the area of a Hezbollah rocket manufacturing site,” the military added.
The Israeli Air Force also struck a Syrian military site being used to supply weapons to Hezbollah. The strike comes as Islamic rebels make territorial gains against Assad regime-controlled areas in northern Syria.
The Israeli TV channel i24NEWS reported Saturday:
Israeli aircraft struck a Syrian military site at the border crossings between Syria and Lebanon on Saturday. The military said the site was being “actively” used by the Shiite jihadists of Hezbollah to transfer weapons from Syria. (…)“This strike was carried out following the identification of the transfer of weapons to Hezbollah from Syria, even after the ceasefire agreement, and represents a threat to the State of Israel, in violation of the terms of the ceasefire agreement,” the military said in a statement.
A terrorist involved in the October 7 attack was eliminated during the ongoing Gaza operation, the IDF announced Saturday.
Terrorist Hazmi Kadih took part in the massacre in Kibbutz Nir Oz. “The terrorist, Hazmi Kadih, infiltrated Israel and took part in the murderous October 7th massacre in Kibbutz Nir Oz,” the IDF said. 117 residents of the 400-memeber community were either murdered or kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
The slain terrorist was on the payrolls of the U.S. charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), highlighting the infiltration of Western NGOs by Palestinian terrorists. “The terrorist worked for the WCK organization, and following the incident, COGAT [Israeli agency responsible for civilian affairs in West Bank, Gaza] representatives demanded senior officials from the international community and the WCK administration to clarify the issue and order an urgent examination regarding the hiring of workers who took part in the October 7th massacre and terrorist attacks against the State of Israel.”
Rebel Islamist forces appear to have captured parts of Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest, pushing against forces loyal to dictator Bashar al-Assad.
The jihadist forces were seen in the city center. “Al Basel square has emerged as a focal point in the incursion, with fighters earlier observed tearing down a Syrian flag in the square and toppling a statue of the late brother of President Bashar al-Assad, Basel al-Assad,” the BBC reported Saturday.
The Associated Press reports:
Thousands of Syrian insurgents fanned out inside Aleppo in vehicles with improvised armor and pickups, deploying to landmarks such as the old citadel on Saturday, a day after they entered Syria’s largest city facing little resistance from government troops, according to residents and fighters.Witnesses said two airstrikes on the city’s edge late Friday targeted insurgent reinforcements and hit near residential areas. A war monitor said 20 fighters were killed.Syria’s armed forces said in a statement Saturday that to absorb the large attack on Aleppo and save lives, it has redeployed and is preparing for a counterattack. The statement acknowledged that insurgents entered large parts of the city but said they have not established bases or checkpoints.Insurgents were filmed outside police headquarters, in the city center, and outside the Aleppo Citadel. They tore down posters of Syrian President Bashar Assad, stepping on some and burning others.
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