White House reacted to a chilling video released by Hamas on Saturday, where an Israeli-American hostage described the atrocities of being held captive for over 420 days.
“The hostage video released today of American-Israeli citizen Edan Alexander is a cruel reminder of Hamas’s terror against citizens of multiple countries, including our own. We have been in touch with Edan’s family,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said in a statement.
If Hamas decided to free the prisoners, the war in Gaza would end tomorrow and the agony of Gazans would end immediately, he added.
Hamas video has a message for Netanyahu and Trump
In over a 3-minute longer video, which was uploaded to Telegram, Hamas issued a stern message for US President-elect Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Fighting tears, Alexander launched a scathing attack against Netanyahu, saying that “You neglected us, and the prime minister is supposed to protect his citizens and soldiers.”
He pleaded with the people of the country to remember those held hostage by Hamas and urged them to hold protests demanding their release.
“Fear and isolation are killing us. Please do not forget us. It is unreasonable that we pay the price for a mistake made by the government,” he continued.
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Alexander further appealed to Israelis to move out on streets and demonstrate every day to pressurize the government. “It is time to put an end to this nightmare.”
In his message for Trump, who will sworn in next month, the hostage urged him to negotiate for their freedom using his influence and the full power of the US.
Stressing him to not repeat the mistake that Biden has been doing, Alexander told Trump, “Every day here feels like an eternity, and the pain from inside grows from day to day.”
“The weapons he has sent are now killing us, and the unlawful sieges are now starving us. I do not want to end up dead …”
In response to the video, Netanyahu assurred that the Israeli government is making every effort to return the hostages home.
