Hamas recently released a video showing three female Israeli hostages addressing Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The clip shows three women sitting side by side in front of a wall, with the one in the middle, Daniel Aloni, doing all the talking.
In the clip, she sent an angry message to Netanyahu and demanded to retrieve the Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
Aloni, who was kidnapped with her daughter as they visited the family at Kibbutz Nir Oz, the place where Hamas attacked on Oct. 7.
She began by addressing Netanyahu, saying: “You promised to free us all. Instead, we bear your political and military failure.”
Aloni refers to “a mistake” that Israel’s leaders made on Oct. 7, the day Hamas militants stormed across southern Israel, killing some 1,400 people and kidnapping over 200 others according to Israeli officials, including soldiers and civilians.
“No one came. No one was watching over us” Aloni continued without clarifying what mistake she was referring to.
She continues her message, presumably delivered at the behest of the Hamas militants holding her, to ask if the Israeli government, which has significantly ramped up both its aerial assault and its ground operations in Gaza over the last several days, “Want to kill us all? Do you want to kill us all with an army?”
“Release us now,” she shouts, then alluding to Hamas’ suggestion that it could free all of its hostages in exchange for the release of the roughly 6,000 Hamas members said to be held in Israeli prisons.
“Release their prisoners. Set us all free. Let us return to our families!” Aloni says, becoming increasingly emotional before screaming into the camera: “Now! Now!”
In turn, Netanyahu’s office released a statement condemning the clip as “cruel psychological propaganda” by Hamas and vowed to do everything to return all the kidnapped and missing people home.
The statement included a quote attributed to Netanyahu, saying: I turn to Yelena Trupanov, Daniel Aloni, and Ramon Kirsht who were kidnapped by Hamas in war crimes. I hug you. Our hearts go out to you and the other abductees.
