Hamas releases video of Israeli hostage Liri Albag in Gaza

The Palestinian militant group Hamas released a video on Saturday of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza since its October 2023 attack.

In the undated, three-and-half-minute video recording, 19-year-old soldier Liri Albag called in Hebrew for the Israeli government to secure her release.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a campaign group for relatives of those abducted, said Albag’s family has not authorized publication of the video.

Albag’s family said the video had “torn our hearts to pieces.”

“This is not the daughter and sister we know. Her severe psychological distress is evident,” a family statement said, calling on the Israeli government and world leaders not to miss the current opportunity to bring all the hostages back alive.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response to the video that Israel continued to work tirelessly to bring the hostages home.

“Anyone who dares to harm our hostages will bear full responsibility for their actions,” he said.

The conscript was 18 when she was captured by Palestinian militants at the Nahal Oz base on the Gaza border.

Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have released a number of videos of Israeli hostages in their custody during nearly 15 months of fighting in Gaza.

The militants seized 251 hostages during the 2023 attack, of whom 96 remain in Gaza. The Israeli military says 34 of those are dead.

Hamas said late on Friday that indirect negotiations with Israel for a truce and hostage release deal were to resume in Qatar that same night.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed that indirect negotiations with Hamas have resumed in Qatar.

The minister told relatives of Albag that “efforts are under way to free the hostages, notably the Israeli delegation which left yesterday (Friday) for negotiations in Qatar,” his office said.

Mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have been engaged in months of effort that have failed to end the war.

Weekly demonstrations organized by the hostages forum have kept up the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring the hostages home.

On Thursday, Netanyahu’s office said he had authorized Israeli negotiators to join the latest round of talks in Qatar.