Hamas publishes new propaganda clip showing 3 young female hostages in Gaza

The Hamas terror group published a new propaganda video Friday showing signs of life from three young female hostages held in the Gaza Strip.

In edited-together clips, the five-minute-long video showed Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev and Doron Steinbrecher, who identified themselves and asked the Israeli government to return them home.

Hamas said the video was filmed earlier this week, although it provided no evidence to support the claim.

Gilboa, 19, was in touch with her family on the morning of the attack and sent her boyfriend videos that morning. When Hamas videos appeared later that day, showing three of Gilboa’s friends being taken hostage to Gaza, Gilboa’s family was able to identify her as well.

The parents of Ariev, 19, described speaking to her at 7 a.m. that morning, as she cried, describing a barrage of rockets and gunfire. “She screamed and said she loves us very much,” Karina’s mother said in a past interview. “She told us to continue our lives.” Later they found a Hamas video publicized on Telegram, in which three young women are laying down in a jeep, surrounded by men speaking in Arabic. Their daughter, Karina, was one of the three, her face wounded and bleeding.

Steinbrecher, 30, was in her Kibbutz Kfar Aza apartment when Hamas terrorists invaded the kibbutz, killing and kidnapping dozens of residents. The veterinary nurse was in her apartment in the kibbutz housing for younger, single residents, but in touch with her sister and their parents, all of whom also live on the kibbutz. At 10:30 a.m., Doron told her parents that she was scared and that the terrorists had arrived at her building. She then sent a voice message to her friends in which she said, “They’ve arrived, they have me.”

Daniella Gilboa, who was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)

Hamas has previously issued similar videos of hostages it is holding, in what Israel says is psychological warfare.

Most Israeli media outlets do not carry the video clips themselves.

Karina Ariev, who was taken captive early in the morning of October 7, 2023, by Hamas terrorists. (Courtesy)

Hamas is holding 132 hostages of the 253 it abducted during its murderous October 7 attack on Israel, not all of them alive. It has intermittently released videos of hostages pleading for release in a bid to pressure Israeli into ending the war and making significant concessions for their release.

Doron Steinbrecher was alone in her Kibbutz Kfar Aza apartment on October 7 when Hamas terrorists swooped in, presumably taking her captive (Courtesy)

The previous such video was issued on January 15, and showed hostages Itay Svirsky, Noa Argamani and Yossi Sharabi. Israel announced a day later that Svirsky and Sharabi had been killed in Hamas captivity.

Hamas claimed that the military had targeted a building where three Israeli hostages were being held, killing two of them. Israel said this was a lie.

“The building where they were held was not a target and was not attacked by our forces,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said then.

The directors of the Mossad and the CIA were expected to meet Qatar’s prime minister in Europe in the next few days to discuss a temporary ceasefire in the Strip and a release of hostages, two officials briefed on the meeting said Thursday.

CIA director William Burns and Mossad chief David Barnea will meet with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani to discuss the release of the remaining hostages taken on October 7, and a pause in fighting in the war-torn Palestinian enclave that is now in its fourth month.

Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel will also participate in the meeting, said one source. Israel’s Channel 12 reported that Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar will also be there.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters traveling with US President Joe Biden aboard Air Force One on Thursday that Burns “has been… involved in helping us with the hostage deal that was in place and trying to help us pursue another one,” referring specific questions to the CIA.

Israel’s war cabinet met Thursday night at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv to discuss the hostage talks. IDF hostage envoy Nitzan Alon and Prime Minister’s Office hostage coordinator Gal Hirsch were also in attendance.

Burns and Barnea previously met with Qatari and Egyptian officials to help broker a short-lived, weeklong truce in late November that saw 105 hostages freed. Efforts to secure another agreement to release the remaining hostages, among them children and women, have since faltered.

Hamas has insisted that it will release all the Israeli hostages in Gaza if Israel releases all Palestinian prisoners, and has demanded a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. The Iran-backed terror group has also been seeking guarantees that Israel will not restart the fighting after the truce, in a bid to stay in power.

Israel has rejected such demands outright.

Israel is said to have recently proposed a two-month ceasefire in exchange for a staged release of the hostages, an offer that Hamas rejected, according to Egyptian officials, but talks appear to have continued and a one-month pause was also floated this week. Under the proposal, Yahya Sinwar and other top Hamas leaders in Gaza would be allowed to relocate to other countries.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in Gaza and leaders have routinely said fighting will not stop until that goal is achieved.

The government has faced increasing pressure in recent weeks to clinch an immediate deal for the hostages with protesters staging rallies, blocking roads, attempting to blockade aid entry into Gaza, and promising to intensify measures to disrupt public order to secure the return of their loved ones.

Channel 12 on Thursday evening cited a senior Israeli official who described the upcoming meeting in Europe as “critical” to the goal of exerting pressure on Hamas and bridging the gaps preventing a deal for the release of all the hostages.

A central, massive gap remains between Israel and Hamas, however, given that Israel is refusing to agree to a permanent ceasefire, while Hamas won’t agree to release the remaining hostages in exchange for anything less.

Channel 12 reported that Hamas’s conditions include a 10-14 day pause before it begins releasing hostages; 100 security prisoners released for every “humanitarian” hostage in the first stage of the release; hundreds of security prisoners released for every hostage in subsequent phases; and a withdrawal of all Israeli forces from the Strip as part of the deal.