UPDATES WITH STATEMENT BY PREMIER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU
By Ahmed Asmar
ANKARA (AA) – The armed wing of Palestinian group Hamas on Monday released a video of three Israeli women held captive in Gaza.
The short video released by the Al-Qassam Brigades via Telegram shows one captive directing her message to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister.
"We are facing this situation because of the failure you caused on Oct. 7, you are obliged to release us all," the Israeli captive, whose name was not given, said in words directed at Netanyahu.
"On Oct. 7 there was no (Israeli) army (in response to Hamas' surprise attack) and no one came to (help) us, you want us all killed," she added.
The Israeli captive also urged the premier to release all Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails in exchange for their release from Gaza captivity.
In his first reaction, Netanyahu described the release of the video as a "cruel psychological propaganda" by Hamas, according to a statement on his X account.
Netanyahu named the three captives as Daniel Aloni, Rimon Kirsht and Yelena Trupanob. "Our heart is with you and with all the other hostages."
"We are doing everything we can to bring all the kidnapped and missing home," he also said.
At previous statements, the Israeli government called the videos and other messages from Hamas of the captives as part of its "psychological warfare" campaign to pressure the Israeli government for a prisoners' swap deal.
The Al-Qassam Brigades said in an earlier statement that it holds in its captivity some 200-250 people, including Israeli soldiers and civilians.
The Israeli army has so far admitted that there are some 240 "hostages in Gaza."
The Israeli army has widened its air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip, which has been under relentless airstrikes since the surprise offensive by Hamas on Oct. 7.
Over 9,800 people have been killed in the conflict, including 8,306 Palestinians and more than 1,538 Israelis.