Hamas releases first hostage video. “Please get me out of here”

“EThey are taking care of me, giving me medicine. I just ask that you take me back home as quickly as possible, to my family, my parents, my brothers. Please get me out of here as soon as possible”highlights the hostage, who says she is 21 years old and from the Israeli city of Shoham, in a video where she appears lying on a bed with her injured arm, while a healthcare professional wraps a bandage around her.

The young woman, identified as Maya Sham, was kidnapped “early Saturday morning [07 de outubro]” as he left the festival near Gaza, where at least 260 people were massacred and others captured during the Hamas land, sea and air attack that took Israel by surprise.

In response to the release of the video, the Israeli military spokesman said he had informed the young woman’s family a week ago that she had been kidnapped.

Furthermore, he accused Hamas of trying to “present itself as a human organization, when it is a terrorist organization responsible for the murder and kidnapping of babies, women, children and the elderly.”

Israel said today that it has notified their families of the identities of 199 people kidnapped by Hamas and other Palestinian militias in Gaza, army spokesman Daniel Hagari confirmed.

The video was released shortly after Hamas released a message from its spokesman, Abu Obeida, announcing that the group plans to release foreign hostages held in Gaza.

Abu Obeida said these hostages are considered his guests and will be released when “conditions on the ground” are met.

According to him, Hamas captured 200 people, while other militias have at least 50 more.

The spokesman also reported that at least 22 of those kidnapped were killed by Israeli bombings.

Palestinian militias demanded the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons in exchange for the return of hostages in the Gaza Strip.

The Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel on October 7 with the launch of thousands of rockets and the incursion of armed militiamen by land, sea and air.

In response, Israel has been bombing several Hamas infrastructures in the Gaza Strip and imposed a siege on the territory, cutting off water, fuel and electricity supplies.

The number of deaths caused by Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip since the attack by the Islamist militia Hamas, on October 7, has reached 2,750 people, in addition to 9,700 injuries, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported today.

Furthermore, since the start of the war, 58 Palestinians have also been killed in clashes with Israelis and 1,250 have been injured in the occupied West Bank.

In Israel, around 1,400 people died, the vast majority of them civilians, during the attack by the Islamist militia, in addition to five deaths caused by the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah on the northern border.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel is “at war” with Hamas.

Tel Aviv has been gathering troops near the territory of the Gaza Strip, an enclave controlled by the Islamist group since 2007, in preparation for a likely offensive against Hamas.

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