Hamas broadcasts video of Israeli hostages, says it will disclose their fate
- Hamas video says fate of hostages Noa Argamani, Yossi Sharabi, and Itay Svirsky to be revealed ‘tomorrow’
- Israel estimates that 132 hostages are still being held in Gaza and that two dozen of them have died
Hamas broadcast video on Sunday showing three Israeli hostages it is holding in Gaza urging their government to stop the offensive against the Palestinian Islamist group and bring about their release, as both sides marked the 100th day of the war.
The undated 37-second video of Noa Argamani, 26, Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itai Svirsky, 38, ended with the chyron: “Tomorrow we will inform you of their fate”.
Hamas said earlier on Sunday it had lost contact with some hostages as Israeli forces shelled Gaza, noting that they might have been killed in the process. At the outset of the war, it also threatened to execute hostages in retaliation for Israeli military strikes.
Israeli officials have generally declined to respond to Hamas’ public messaging on the hostages, casting it as psychological warfare.
Hagar Mizrahi, a forensic official with Israel’s Health Ministry, told local TV on December 31 that autopsies of slain hostages who had been recovered found causes of death inconsistent with Hamas’ account they had died in air strikes.