IDF Expresses Concern About 2 Hostages Shown in Hamas Propaganda Video

At a Monday evening press briefing, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari expressed the IDF’s concerns about the safety and well-being of two hostages currently held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Since Sunday, Hamas, designated as a terrorist group, has released several videos showing Itay Svirsky, 38, Noa Argamani, 26, and Yossi Sharabi, 53, pleading for the Israeli government to secure their release. Hagari said the IDF believed Argamani was still alive, but the latest video released on Sunday has raised concerns about the well-being of Svirsky and Sharabi.

During Monday’s briefing, Hagari denied Hamas’ claim that Itai [Svirsky] was shot in an IDF raid, labeling it a “Hamas lie.” He added, “The building where they were held was not targeted or attacked by our forces.”

Nevertheless, Hagari acknowledged the possibility that the hostages might have been in a building close to the sites of previous IDF strikes and confirmed that the military was analyzing the video footage.

Citing “grave concern for [the hostages’] fate,” Hagari noted that IDF representatives have already met with the families of Itay and Sharabi.

Hagari urged the public to avoid “spreading rumors and unverified information” about the hostages’ safety and whereabouts, assuring that the IDF was constantly in touch with the families and was “using every means to bring [the hostages] back home and to prevent harm to them.”

Argamani was attending the Supernova Music Festival at the time of her capture. The video of her capture, showing her calling out for her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, while being forced onto a motorcycle and taken into Gaza, became one of the first viral videos of the Supernova massacre following the attack. Or, aged 30, was also taken hostage by Hamas on October 7.

Svirsky was at his mother’s home in Kibbutz Be’eri celebrating Simchat Torah when Hamas kidnapped him. Both of his parents were murdered during the attack.