The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, recently released a video featuring an Israeli hostage named Matan Zangauker, who has been held captive in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack in October 2023. In the video, which is three-and-a-half minutes long and has not been verified by AFP, Zangauker speaks in Hebrew, stating that he has been in captivity for over 420 days and appealing for public pressure on the Israeli government to secure the release of all captives held in Gaza.
Zangauker was taken from Nir Oz kibbutz along with his partner, Ilana Gritzewsky, during the same attack. Gritzewsky was released during a truce last year, leaving Zangauker as the sole remaining captive. His mother, Einav Zangauker, has been a vocal advocate for negotiating a hostage release deal to bring her son home. She has called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give full mandate to the negotiating team to secure a comprehensive deal that would lead to the release of all captives in Gaza.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a campaign group for relatives of those abducted to Gaza, emphasized the urgency of securing the release of hostages, stating that their lives hang by a thread. Critics have accused Netanyahu of stalling truce negotiations and prolonging the war to appease his far-right coalition partners. Protests calling for the government to negotiate a hostage release deal with Hamas have been ongoing in Israel since the start of the war.
In response to the video, Qatar expressed optimism about the resumption of talks, while a source close to the Hamas delegation indicated that a new round of negotiations is likely to begin in the coming week. Despite mediation efforts by Cairo, Washington, and Doha for over a year, a ceasefire agreement and hostage release deal have not been reached.
The situation remains tense as the families of the hostages anxiously await news of their loved ones. The international community continues to monitor the developments closely, hoping for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
