A week after Hamas refused to name the living Israeli hostages as part of ceasefire talks, the Gaza-based terrorist group released a disturbing video of 19-year-old hostage Liri Albag.
In a three-minute propaganda video, Albag is seemingly forced to read a message crafted by Hamas in a bid to pressure Israel into a ceasefire deal. The female hostage, who has been in captivity inside Gaza for 450 days, is coerced into blaming the Israeli military and the government for her plight.
Albag, a corporal in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), was abducted by Hamas terrorists on October 7 along with five other female soldiers from the Nahal Oz base. “Liri was abducted from the Nahal Oz base during her first Saturday on duty after completing her basic training, alongside four other lookouts: Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniella Gilboa, and Naama Levy,” the Israeli news website YNET noted.
Israeli media outlets did not air the Hamas propaganda video in keeping with the wishes of the hostage’s family. “Albag’s family requested media not to share the video or images from it, asking journalists to respect their privacy at this moment,” Israel’s i24NEWS noted.
The Jerusalem Post noted that “[h]ostage videos released by Hamas are part of the terror organization’s ongoing engagement in psychological warfare,” and published an excerpt from the statement read by Albag:
“I’m only 19 years old. I have my entire life in front of me, but now my entire life has been put on pause,” Albag said in the video.”We’re starting a really dark year here,” she continued in tears. “The world is starting to forget about us. No one cares about us. We’re living in a nightmare.”In the Hamas video, Albag then directs her words toward the Israeli government, asking, “If there was someone from your family here, would they still be here today?””This is not normal, what you’re making us go through here,” she continued. “Do you know what it’s like being in a place constantly under bombardment without a shelter?”I just want people to remember me, remember my name,” she concluded in the video. “All of this is because of the government and the army.”
The propaganda video comes a month after Hamas released a similarly distressing clip of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander. The 20-year-old former New Jersey resident was shown crying and holding his hands over his head in despair after more than 410 harrowing days of captivity.
Last May, Israeli news outlets published a video showing the actual footage of Albag and five other female soldiers being taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7. The 3-minute video showed them bound and lined up against the wall as Palestinian terrorists mocked and jeered them. Their bloodied faces and blood-smeared clothes can be seen in the video taken by their Hamas captors.
The video “shows the five [IDF] lookouts being handcuffed by their captors,” YNET wrote describing the footage. “Later, the terrorists filmed themselves leading the five to a vehicle amid the sound of heavy gunfire in the background.”
Hamas holds nearly 100 Israeli hostages taken on October 7, 2023. According to official Israeli sources, 64 hostages are still believed to be alive after 15 months of captivity. Many of the hostages have either been executed or tortured to death by Hamas and its allied terrorist groups.
Commandos of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) destroyed a Syrian underground missile factory in a daring covert operation in September, nearly two months ahead of the fall of Bashar al Assad’s regime, the IDF disclosed. “Over 100 Shaldag Unit soldiers raided and dismantled an underground compound for manufacturing precision missiles during a special IAF operation inside Syria,” the military said in a statement Thursday.
The details of the covert operation came to light as Israel completed a massive aerial campaign to destroy Syria’s weaponry and military capabilities following the sudden collapse of the Iran-backed Assad regime in early December. The IDF has also created a buffer zone along Israel’s border with Syria as Islamist groups consolidate power in the country in a post-Assad era.
“The Shaldag Unit’s operation deep inside Syrian territory joins a series of courageous missions the IDF has conducted over the past few months in Gaza, the Dahieh in Beirut, and Iran, with the goal of destroying the Iranian Axis’ missile manufacturing capabilities,” IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said Thursday after details of the operation were made public. “For years, Iran formed a ring of rocket and missile fire around Israel’s borders, and we have struck both the ring and its head.”
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