On Saturday, Hamas published a video purporting to depict Israeli hostage Matan Zangauker in captivity.
The video shows a man identifying himself as 24-year-old Matan Zangauker pleading with Israeli leaders to come to an agreement that would allow Israel to receive the prisoner bodies that Hamas is holding in Gaza.
After Israel signed a historic ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah in Lebanon last month, mediating nations, including Qatar, see heightened momentum for a potential deal that could allow the release of 100 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners.
According to a source briefed on the negotiations, Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has visited Qatar and Israel in an attempt to jump-start the US president-elect’s diplomatic campaign for a ceasefire in Gaza and a deal for the release of hostages before he takes office on January 20.
Over the course of the war, which is now in its fifteenth month, Hamas has released multiple videos of hostages pleading for their release; however, Israeli officials have rejected the brief, edited videos as psychological propaganda intended to exert pressure on the government.
The film “provides further evidence that after more than 420 days in captivity, there are hostages still alive and enduring severe suffering,” according to the Hostage Families Forum, which advocates for hostage family members.
