Ad urging release of Israeli-American hostages to air in US this weekend

An advertisement calling for the release of US citizens held hostage by Hamas is due to air on American television networks this weekend, as part of efforts by their families to press for their release.

The 30-second ad from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which will debut this Sunday, opens by showing Israelis being kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists on October 7, along with the images of eight Americans held by Hamas: Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Edan Alexander, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Omer Neutra, Itay Chen, Judih Weinstein, Gadi Haggai and Keith Siegel.

Nir Oz, the kibbutz where Weinstein lived with her husband Haggai, announced last month that the couple was murdered during the Hamas-led onslaught on October 7, in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 240 taken hostage. Both of their bodies are still held in the Gaza Strip.

“These same terrorists are holding Americans hostage. Sons, brothers, fathers, Americans,” a narrator says as pictures of the hostages are shown. “Brutalized, murdered. Act now or more will die. Every second counts. Do everything. Bring them home now.”

The mother of Neutra, who was raised on Long Island and enlisted in the military after moving to Israel, said she hoped the ad would raise awareness in the United States that Americans are held hostage in Gaza. Her son Omer, 22, has been missing since October 7, while serving as a tank commander near Gaza.

“I’m not sure how many people realize that there are American hostages that are being held in Gaza,” she told The New York Times. “With all the noise on social media — who’s right and who’s wrong and where the justice is — I think we’re losing sight of where this all started and the fact that there are still almost 140 hostages being held there against their will, with no sign of life, with no medical attention, in complete darkness.”

Yael Alexander, whose son Eden was also taken hostage while serving near Gaza, expressed hope the ad would maintain pressure on the US and Israeli governments to push for the hostages’ release.

“It’s just to make clear that the time is running out,” she said to the newspaper. “We need to bring all the hostages home now. We need Edan back to us, like to the family. We are broken now, and we want to feel whole again.”

It is believed that 136 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released prior to that, and one was rescued by troops. The bodies of eight hostages have also been recovered.

The Israel Defense Forces has confirmed the deaths of 25 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.

Hamas is also holding the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin since 2014, as well as two Israeli civilians, Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, who are both thought to be alive after entering the Strip of their own accord in 2014 and 2015, respectively.