Hostages Plead for Freedom in Disturbing Video Released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad

Al-Quds Brigade, the paramilitary arm of the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organization, on Tuesday evening posted videos featuring two Israeli hostages held in Gaza.  

Appearing in separate videos, the two men, identified as Gadi Mozes, 79, and Elad Katzir, 47, are both farmers and residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz, captured during the October 7 attack on southern Israel. Mozes’ partner, Efrat Katz, 69, was killed during the initial attack. Katz’s daughter, Doron Katz-Asher, and her two young grandchildren, Raz, 5, and Aziz, 2, were taken hostage by Hamas gunmen but were released on November 24 as part of a cease-fire agreement. brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.  

Katzir’s father, Avraham ‘Rami’ Katzir, 79, was killed during the assault while his mother, Hanna Katzir, 78, was held in Gaza as a hostage until her release on November 24. Days before her release, the PIJ reported that Hanna Katzir had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. Upon her release, Hanna, who comes from a family of Holocaust survivors, was in dire health and urgent need of medical attention because of heart problems exacerbated by the starvation she experienced while in captivity.   

In the video, both Mozes and Katzir plead with the Israeli government to negotiate a new hostage deal, expressing fear they will fall victim to an IDF airstrike. Presumably coerced into making the statements, the sincerity of the two men’s statements cannot be determined.  

Yesterday, Hamas released footage of three other hostages taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz as part of a propaganda campaign likely crafted to pressure Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government into an expedited cease-fire agreement.  

After Netanyahu met with the families of 15 of the hostages still held in Gaza on Tuesday, his office reiterated his commitment to securing the freedom of all still held in captivity, stating that “rescuing them is a supreme task.”  

Based on information from a source close to Hamas, French news agency AFP reported that Ismail Haniyeh, chairman of the organization’s political bureau, and a cadre of senior officials were set to travel from Qatar to Egypt to meet with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel regarding a possible deal.  

Haniyeh has resided in Doha, Qatar’s capital city, rather than Gaza since 2016 or 2017.