Hamas released a video on Monday in which three kidnapped Israeli women appeal to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to release them "right now."
In the video, which was released on Hamas's social networks and described as "a number of Zionist prisoners held by Al-Qassam send a message to Netanyahu and the Zionist government," the women accuse the prime minister of failing to act on October 7 to stop the Hamas massacre and now failing to rescue the hostages by enacting a ceasefire.
The women were identified as Yelena Tropanov, Danielle Aloni, and Rimon Kirscht.
Tropanov was kidnapped on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Oz together with her mother, her son, and her son's girlfriend. Her husband was murdered.
Kirsht was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nirim with her husband. Aloni was kidnapped from Nir Oz with her daughter, her sister, her brother-in-law, and her two twin nieces.
Hamas's psychological warfare and the content of the video
Hamas has waged a complex psychological warfare, casting doubt on the authenticity of the hostages' words. Prime Minister Netanyahu's response to the video addressed this, saying: "This is a cruel psychological manipulation by Hamas and ISIS."
In the video itself, only one women speaks:
"Hello, Bibi Netanyahu," says the woman in the middle. "We have been in Hamas captivity for 23 days. Yesterday, there was a press conference with the families of the hostages. We know that there was supposed to be a ceasefire. You were supposed to release all of us. You made a commitment to release all of us."
She accuses the prime minister of "political and national neglect" and of "screwing up" on October 7.
"No military was there. Nobody came. Nobody heard us," the hostage says. "We are innocent citizens. Citizens who pay taxes to the State of Israel. You want to kill us all. You want to kill us all using the IDF.
"It isn't enough that Israeli citizens were killed," she continues. "Let us go. Let us go now... Let us return to our families now!"
In Netanyahu's response, he assured the public: "We embrace the families. We are doing everything to bring all the captives and missing individuals back home."
Statements from the families of the hostages
On Monday evening, a press conference was held in Tel Aviv with the families of the three women in the video. Ramos Aloni, the father of Danielle, called for the hostages' return and lamented how many of his family members were taken.
"Rimon was taken without her glasses," said Avital Kirsht, the mother of Rimon, "for 24 days she hasn't been able to see."
They also said: "We ask the Emir of Qatar to make efforts towards the release of the hostages."
Calls for a ceasefire
The video was released against the backdrop of repeated calls by Hamas for a ceasefire after its Health Ministry said more than 8,000 Gazans have been killed in Israeli strikes.
Last week, a senior Hamas official told NBC News that the terrorist group would be willing to release all civilian hostages "in one hour" if the IDF would cease attacks against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and if all Palestinians detained by Israel were released.
Over the weekend, Israel ramped up its offensive, entering the strip with tanks and carrying out attacks by land, as well.
The testimony of Mia Schem
Toward the beginning of the war, Hamas released a video of a young woman, Mia Schem, who was also captured by Hamas. At the beginning of the video, she appears to be receiving medical treatment, and afterward, she is filmed speaking directly to the camera, claiming, "I was severely injured in the hand, they took me to Gaza and treated me for three hours. They are taking care of me, treating me well, and giving me medications - everything is okay.
"I request that you bring me back home as soon as possible, to my parents, to my siblings. Please get us out of here as quickly as possible."
That video was also not authenticated.
So far, Hamas has released four hostages: Two American-Israeli citizens and two elderly Israeli women.
Sam Halpern and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.