Islamic Jihad Releases Propaganda Video, Offers to Release Two Hostages

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terror group controlled by Iran in Gaza, released propaganda videos Thursday that featured two Israeli hostages and offered their release in return for fuel and other supplies.

The video, like a Hamas video released last week, features the hostages blaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the October 7 terror attack, though it goes further, specifically blaming him for the murder of “all the children,” and for “all the problems that happen in Israel and in the world.”

Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group in Gaza, posts video saying it is ready to release two hostages in exchange for humanitarian aid. pic.twitter.com/paADCcavbE

— Jeff Charles, An Awful Pundit (@jeffcharlesjr) November 9, 2023

A masked Islamic Jihad figure claims that the two could be let go for “humanitarian” reasons and suggests they will die for lack of medicines in Gaza. He also suggests that the release of the hostages would await the right conditions — presumably, a unilateral ceasefire by Israel.

The video is notable in that it is the first to show any male hostage: Yagil Yaakov, 13. He, like the other hostage, Hannah Katzir, 77, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz, according to the Times of Israel.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad hostages, Hannah Katzir, 77, and Yagil Yaakov, 13, thank their kidnappers for treating them so well. Except for the whole violent kidnapping part. And using them in this propaganda video. (English subs) pic.twitter.com/5V3fVTWhuP

— Jewlicious (@jewlicious) November 9, 2023

The hostages also mention their “supporters” in Tel Aviv — referring to activists and protesters, many of them family and friends of hostages, who want the hostages released, though most have shied away from saying they want the war to stop.

Israel has said it will not accept any long-term “pause” or ceasefire until the hostages are released. It has vowed to destroy Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza, regardless.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.