GAZA - Hamas has published a video showing the first proof of life of two more hostages being held in Gaza.
In the undated footage, Omri Miran says he has been held captive for 202 days and Keith Siegel mentions the Passover holiday, indicating the clips were filmed recently. Both were captured when Hamas launched its deadly attacks on 7 October.
Responding to the video, their families urged the Israeli government to secure a new hostage release deal. Mr Siegel, a US citizen, was kidnapped with his wife Aviva, though she was freed in November during a brief truce. In a video statement Keith’s wife Aviva said: “Keith, I love you, we will fight until you return.” Earlier this month, she told the BBC how the couple had at one point been left in a tunnel by their captors as they were moved from place to place. At the time of the interview she said she did not know if Keith was still alive.
His daughter Ilan said: “Seeing my father today only emphasises to all of us how much we must reach a deal as soon as possible and bring everyone home. I demand that the leaders of this country watch this video and see their father crying out for help.”
His other daughter Shir said: “If you watched the video, you saw that my father knows we are all coming to the rally every week and fighting for him and all the captives.” Dani Miran, Omri Miran’s father, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “approve any viable deal”.
“Take one small and bloodless step for both peoples,” he said, adding: “All the people of Israel and the nations of the world want to see an end to the bloodshed and especially an end to the suffering of your people.
The Hostages Families Forum Headquarters said the video was “the clearest evidence that the Israeli government must do everything to approve a deal for the return of all the hostages”. It follows another proofof- life video the group released earlier this week, showing Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, who is shown without his lower left arm in the short clip. It was blown off during Hamas’s 7 October attack on southern Israel. In response, his mother and father also appealed for more to be done to secure a new hostage release deal.
