Hamas Releases New Hostage Video as Pressure Grows for Israel to Reach Deal

TEL AVIV—Hamas released a video of two further hostages, including an American-Israeli citizen, in a move that appeared to be designed to increase pressure on the Israeli government to reach a cease-fire deal as anticipation grows for a large Israeli offensive in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza.

In the three-minute video, U.S. citizen Keith Siegel, 64 years old, and Omri Miran, 47, urged the Israeli government to come to an agreement with the militant group to free them. Protests in Israel for the government to do more to free the remaining captives seized on Oct. 7 have been growing in recent weeks, and Hamas has been releasing videos of some of the prisoners to add to the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. In the video released Saturday, Siegel and Miran, who wore black shirts and were placed against a gray background, appeared pale and thin after more than six months in captivity. Siegel broke down in tears as he spoke, describing how he found the protests to free him in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem encouraging.

He also called on demonstrators to continue to apply pressure on the Israeli government and called on the country’s leaders to “participate in the negotiations to reach a deal soon.”

It wasn’t clear when the video was filmed, but Miran said he had been held for 202 days, indicating it had been shot recently. “It’s time to reach a deal that will get us out alive, whole and healthy,” said Miran, addressing his words to the Israeli government and people. “I want you to do everything you can and push in every possible way.”

Siegel was taken hostage on Oct. 7, with his wife from their home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Siegel’s wife, Aviva, was freed as part of a cease-fire deal in November and has been campaigning for his release with her daughters ever since. The video of the men came as a relief to desperate families who haven’t heard or seen them for many months and wondered if they were still alive.

The latest video comes amid last-ditch efforts to revive talks to free some of the remaining 129 hostages and hold off a military offensive in the city of Rafah, where more than a million Gazans have taken refuge since the start of the war and where Israel believes much of Hamas’s leadership is hiding with many of the remaining hostages.

Mediators are currently trying to come up with a new proposal to revive talks to release the hostages. Israeli officials met with Egyptian counterparts on Friday as part of this effort, but several obstacles remain which mediators say makes chances of reaching a deal low. Hamas hasn’t retracted its demand that Israel agree to cease its war in Gaza in exchange for more hostage releases, something the Israeli government won’t accept.

Hamas released a video of another American-Israeli hostage, Hersh Goldberg-Polin on Wednesday. The 23-year-old appeared with the stump of one arm, which was blown off when he was taken hostage during Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7 along with more than 240 others.

Hamas had released 109 hostages as of the end of November when a cease-fire agreement that included hostage-prisoner exchanges expired. Of those, 105 were returned during the pause in fighting that began on Nov. 24.

Among 129 remaining hostages, at least 34 are dead, including three Americans, according to Israel. Israeli and American officials estimate privately that the number of dead hostages could be much higher. Five other American hostages, including Siegel and Goldberg-Polin, are believed to be alive.

In response to the video the Hostage Family Forum, a group that campaigns on behalf of the relatives, said in a statement that it was “time for the government and its leader to prove through actions their commitment to the citizens of Israel who await the return of the hostages. The Israeli government must not miss this opportunity to bring them all home!”

Protests led by hostage families have intensified in recent weeks due to heightened urgency, with demonstrators gathering on Saturday to call for the release of the hostages. Miran’s father spoke at Saturday’s rally after watching the video, which he said shook him and all the people of Israel.

Siegel’s wife and his daughters, Ilan and Shir, released a video in response in which they called on the Israeli government to free him. “Seeing my father today only emphasizes to all of us how much we must reach a deal as soon as possible and bring everyone home,” said Ilan Siegel. “I demand that the leaders of this country watch this video and see their father crying out for help.”