The Israeli army spokesperson rejects Hamas’s claim that the two hostages were killed by Israeli bombing.
The military wing of the Palestinian group Hamas has released a video purporting to show the bodies of two Israeli captives it says were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.
The video, released Monday by the Qassam Brigades, shows three Israeli captives speaking to the camera, likely under duress.
In the first part of the unverified video, a female captive identified by Israeli media as Noa Argamani, 26, and two male captives urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the assault on Gaza, according to a translation provided by the armed group.
In the second part, Argamani said the two captive men were killed “because of our own (Israeli) airstrikes.” The video ends by purporting to show the corpses of the two captives. It is not clear when the video was taken.
In a statement released with the video, the Qassam Brigades said the two men were killed in “bombings by the Zionist army.”
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari identified hostage Itay Svirsky as one of the men in the latest Hamas video, but did not give the name or other details of the second person , as requested by the family.
“Itay was not shot down by our forces. This is a Hamas lie. The building they were held in was not a target and was not attacked by our forces. »
“We don’t attack a place if we know there may be hostages inside,” he said.
Hamas previously released another video on Sunday showing the three captives alive.
The Palestinian group captured around 240 people when it attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,139 people, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel responded to the attack with a devastating bombing and ground invasion of Gaza in which more than 24,100 people were killed, according to Palestinian authorities.
“No one will talk to us”
Later Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Hamas was trying to put “psychological pressure” on the hostages’ families by releasing the videos.
The Israeli army was helping the families, he told a news conference, and keeping them informed of any developments.
“Hamas was hit hard by (the military),” he said.
“All that remains is for him to touch a sensitive point in Israeli society through acts of psychological violence against family members. »
Ruling out a ceasefire in Gaza, Gallant reiterated that the only way to bring the captives home is to continue to exert “military pressure.” Otherwise, he said, “no one will talk to us” and we “won’t be able to reach any agreement.”
Gideon Levy, a columnist for the Haaretz newspaper, told Tel Aviv Tribune the video was “quite shocking.”
“I understand ideological warfare, but there should be borders,” he said. “To broadcast (a video) yesterday of them alive and today (a video showing) the opposite… there should be boundaries that even Hamas should not cross. Nothing good will come of it. »
The Hamas video comes a day after thousands of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square to mark the 100th day since the captives’ capture.
Relatives of those still detained in Gaza have repeatedly called on the government to prioritize their release and push for a temporary ceasefire.
More than 100 captives were freed during a week-long truce in late November following lengthy negotiations brokered by Qatar and the United States. In exchange, Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
