DaysofPal- Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, released new footage featuring Israeli captive Alon Ohel, who has been held in Gaza for more than 700 days.
The footage, titled “The captive Alon Ohel… because of Netanyahu’s obstinacy, he remains in captivity in Gaza,” showed Ohel appealing to his family and the Israeli public to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to secure his release along with the remaining captives.
In the video, Ohel warned that the captives had become a “burden” to the Israeli leadership, which he said was seeking to “get rid of them.”
He urged Israelis not to abandon them, while also addressing the United States, asking Washington to halt its support for Netanyahu’s decisions.
He specifically appealed to U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, saying: “Do not allow Netanyahu to kill the captives.”
He concluded with a stark plea: “Our fate has been decided, these are our last days. We, the captives, have become a burden on this government.”
The release comes just days after the Al-Qassam Brigades published a so-called “farewell image” of dozens of Israeli captives still held in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
The photo displayed clear images of the captives, each labeled with the name “Ron Arad” followed by a serial number, an apparent reference to the Israeli airman who was captured in Lebanon in 1986 and disappeared without a trace.
Analysts interpreted this as a symbolic warning that the current captives could share a similar fate.
The timing of the video is particularly significant, coinciding with intensified Israeli ground operations in Gaza and heavy bombardments that have displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians southward amid a worsening humanitarian and health crisis.
Hamas linked the escalation of its media campaign to Netanyahu’s intransigence and the compliance of Israeli military leadership, led by Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.
Observers note that Al-Qassam’s strategy of using symbolic and emotionally charged messaging underscores the fragility of the captives’ situation, with their fate hanging in the balance on both the battlefield dynamics and the stalled political negotiations, particularly after Israeli strikes targeted the Qatari capital, Doha, which had been central to mediation efforts.
By invoking the name of Ron Arad, Hamas appears to be sending a clear signal: the disappearance of the captives could become permanent if no resolution is reached.
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