Hamas official says it’s ‘ready to free 34 hostages’ as part of an exchange deal just hours after releasing sick video of crying Israeli teenager who has been held captive for 451 days
A Hamas official has said the terror group is ready to release 34 hostages in the “first phase” of an exchange deal with Israel.
“Hamas has agreed to release 34 Israeli prisoners from a list presented by Israel as part of the first phase of a prisoner exchange deal,” the official told AFP.
An unnamed official told Reuters that the deal is conditional on the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, along with a permanent ceasefire in the brutal war that has devastated the Gaza Strip for more than a year.
He claimed that no progress has been made on this issue on the Israeli side.
According to the Times of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has denied these reports, with a spokesperson for his office telling the newspaper: “So far, Hamas has not provided a list of hostages.”
Senior Hamas officials told Qatari media that negotiations are underway for a comprehensive deal, not a partial one.
The sources reportedly said that there has been no mention of Hamas’s removal from power in the Gaza Strip.
An Arab negotiator involved in the ceasefire negotiations appeared to support this, telling Israeli broadcaster I24 that Israel is willing to be flexible in allowing Hamas to rule the Gaza Strip after the war, as long as the country disarms itself and there are mechanisms in place to prevent the country from disarming itself. rearmament in the future.
A spokesperson for the Hostages and Families Forum declined to comment.
The sensitive diplomatic moves come hours after the terror group released a sickening hostage video of the youngest female Israeli still held in Gaza, more than 450 days since she was brutally kidnapped.
Relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza gather in front of the Ministry of Defense to hold a demonstration demanding a ceasefire and a hostage swap deal in Gaza, on December 28, 2024 in Tel Aviv, Israel
Hamas has released a sickening hostage video of Liri Albag, who remains held in Gaza more than 450 days after her brutal kidnapping
Liri Albag, 19, was seen shaking and crying as she had to beg her government to save her in a sadistic three-and-a-half minute clip.
She breaks down as she tells how some held with her were ‘severely injured’ and says she had ‘looked death in the face’.
She makes a direct plea to Defense Minister Israel Katz, saying, “You know my father. Look him in the eye and tell him that he and my mother don’t deserve to hug their daughter.
“Look at them and tell them if you have the courage.”
She then turns to her parents, Shira and Eli, and her siblings, telling them, “I love you so much. I miss you endlessly.’
While her distraught family asked that the full video not be shared, they agreed to release two still images to increase pressure to reach a deal.
In a statement they said: ‘Today’s video has torn our hearts into pieces. This is not the daughter and sister we know. She is not doing well; her severe psychological distress is evident.
‘We saw how our heroic Liri survived and pleaded for her life. She is only tens of kilometers away from us, yet we have not been able to bring her home for 456 days.
In the video, 19-year-old Albag can be seen in tears
Liri pictured next to Agam Berger with their hands tied behind their backs as they sit on the floor
Pictured alongside other hostages, the group of young Israeli women appeared to have been injured by their captors
Liri (pictured in blue) was also featured in another Hamas hostage video last year
“We appeal to the Prime Minister, world leaders and all decision makers: it is time to make decisions as if your own children were there.
‘Liri is alive and must return alive. This only depends on you. You shouldn’t miss this current opportunity to bring them back. All.
In addition to this statement, Liri’s parents also released a heartbreaking video call this afternoon in which they spoke directly to their daughter.
Liri’s mother Shira said: ‘I want to say to Liri, when she sees this: Liri, we fight for you, we won’t give up on you, and you will come home alive.
‘You’ll be back. Yes, it’s hard there and yes, you suffer, but you come home alive.
“Mommy promises you, Mommy and Daddy promise you, and we keep our promises – it will happen soon, God willing, it will happen soon.
‘Believe in this, we won’t give up, don’t you give up either, keep fighting and surviving. You are strong and you are capable. We are here fighting for you. I love you so much and miss you terribly and am waiting to hug you.”
The 19-year-old’s father, Eli, followed: “Liri, if you hear us, tell the others that all families move heaven and earth and want their children home, and we will fight until all the hostages are returned – the living for rehabilitation and the murdered and fallen for a proper burial in Israel.
Eli Albag, Liri’s father, holds up two images, one of his daughter before the war and one of her in Hamas captivity
Liri’s relatives today called for her release during a protest in Tel Aviv
‘Tell the others: stay strong. It won’t be long before there will be a deal.”
Liri was completing her mandatory military service as an unarmed border monitor when she was abducted from the Nahal Oz base on October 7.
Footage from that day showed her cowering in fear, sitting in pools of blood, as her captors called her and her comrades “mean dogs” and “Sabaya” – an ancient Islamic term that can mean female sex slave.
She was taken along with fellow teenage border guards Naama Levy, Daniela Gilboa, Agam Berger and Karina Ariev.
More to follow.