Hamas release sick footage with hostage Noa Argamani forced to say her two fellow captives are DEAD, 'killed by IDF strikes'
Hamas has released a new video in which 26-year-old hostage Noa Argamani is forced to say two of her fellow captives are dead, allegedly killed by IDF strikes.
It follows a video earlier today where Hamas claimed they would reveal tonight if three hostages are alive or dead – including Argamani, whose abduction horrified the world.
In the footage they asked viewers ‘what do you think?’ – referring to the fate of the Nova festival attendee Argamani, Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itai Svirsky, 38.
But another video aired today shows Argamani claiming the two other captives were killed by ‘our own IDF strikes’, referring to the Israeli military.
Hamas released video showing hostage Noa Argamani explaining how Yossi Sharabi and Itai Svirski were killed in captivity
She claims they were killed after the building they were housed in was hit by Israeli airstrike
In the earlier video, Hamas offered a trio of options for the captives: all three are killed; ‘some are killed, some are injured,’ or all three are spared.
It was a follow-up to a 37-second clip released on Sunday in which the three hostages pleaded with Israel to stop its offensive on Gaza, concluding with the message ‘tomorrow we will inform you of their fate’.
January 14 marks 100 days since Hamas’ shock invasion into southern Israel, storming across the border in cars, vans and by motorised paraglider at daybreak.
Some 1,100 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed in massacres of kibbutzim and the Nova Music Festival near Re’im. Noa Argamani was among those enjoying the ‘peace festival’ in the desert when gunmen breached the site and opened fire.
Noa desperately messaged her friend at 8.10am saying she was in a parking lot and ‘can’t get out’, to which her friend replied: ‘Hide. Let me know that everything is ok’. More than two hours later, she told her friend ‘We don’t have a car’.
That was the last time Noa’s friends and family heard from her, before footage emerged online of her screaming ‘don’t kill me’ as she was taken to Gaza on the back of a motorbike.
As many as 240 hostages were taken on October 7 to be used as leverage in prisoner swaps with Israel, which holds many Palestinians – civilians and suspected terrorists – in prisons.
The world watched in horror as video emerged of Noa Argamani, 26, sitting on the back of a motorbike as she screamed ‘Don’t kill me’ to the men surrounding her
For more than two months, Noa’s family have been helplessly waiting for news that their beloved daughter (pictured) had survived the Hamas attack and would be among the hostages who have been freed so far in prisoner exchanges
Noa Argamani, who was taken from the Nova peace festival near Re’im on October 7
Noa’s mother Liora (pictured together) begged President Joe Biden and the Red Cross to intervene and bring her daughter home before she dies, as she told her only child: ‘If I don’t get to see you… please know I love you very much.’
A week-long ceasefire was organised in November after weeks of retaliatory bombing by Israel on communities in Gaza as the army paved the way for a wider ground invasion.
Critics, including international charities and the UN, warned that the bombing was devastating civilian communities in one of the world’s most densely-packed enclaves.
A siege of Gaza City, cutting water, aid, power, medical supplies and fuel to the beleaguered Strip risked a serious humanitarian crisis, the UN warned in October.
And 24-hour evacuation orders were met with outcry from humanitarian aid groups, warning such an unprecedented migration of people was ‘impossible’.
Mounting pressure eventually saw Israel agree to a temporary ceasefire to last from November 24 until November 30 – later extended until November 31.
A total of 110 hostages were released during that timeframe, mostly as part of a Qatar-mediated deal between Hamas and Israel, some released as part of a separate deal with Thailand and two as a gesture to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The return of hostages from Gaza has revealed the dire conditions hostages were exposed to within Gaza.
Some gave chilling accounts of rape, physical beatings and psychological torture, drawing horrified reactions from family members and Israeli citizens who put more pressure on the government to safely ensure the return of the remaining captives.
he sustained fighting has also seen IDF soldiers mistakenly kill surrendering hostages carrying white flags while operating in Gaza.
And returning hostages warned some were being held in tunnels under the Strip – as Israel revealed plans to pump them with water to flush out Hamas.
As the conflict reached its 100th day, protestors in Tel Aviv were seen calling for the safe return of the remaining hostages, demanding a ceasefire and more prisoner swaps.
Video shared previously showed some of the emotional clashes between the families of hostages and members of Netanyahu’s war cabinet.
Families worry the far-right government’s policies enacted during wartime, such as new provisions for the death penalty, could adversely affected their loved ones held in Gaza.
More than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its military campaign in October, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Around 40 per cent of the Gazan population are children.
Despite the challenges facing Israel operating within the Palestinian enclave, the IDF has reaffirmed its commitment to safely returning the hostages through ‘increased military pressure’.
Army chief Herzi Halevi said in a statement on Saturday: ‘We do not forget and we will not forget, and we will continue to remind even those who try to deny it. We are fighting for our right to live here in safety.’
‘Tomorrow [Sunday, January 14] we will mark a hundred days since the beginning of the war. A hundred days in which the hostages are still held in Gaza by the cruel Hamas terrorists,’ he added.
‘We are operating by all means, most of them covertly, in order to return them and we will continue to do so until we return them all.’