Hamas posts video of three elderly Israeli hostages

STORY: Hamas released a new video on Monday which appears to show three elderly Israeli hostages pleading for their release. The man in the middle identified himself as 79-year-old Chaim Peri and said he was being held with other elderly hostages with chronic illnesses in harsh conditions. The Israeli military condemned Hamas’ video, calling it "a criminal terror video” that shows “Hamas' cruelty towards innocent, very elderly civilians who are in need of medical care.” Another hostage seen in the video is 80-year-old Yoram Metzger. His daughter-in-law Ayala said the video brought the family mixed feelings. “It was a joy for a moment to see them alive, to see them OK, sitting, talking… They are the same people I know, but they lost weight and they seem to be weak.” Ayala, along with other family members of Israeli hostages, were protesting near Israel’s defense ministry in Tel Aviv, where officials met U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. Noam Peri, daughter of Chaim Peri, thanked the U.S. government for its commitment to stand with Israel, but said there needs to be more pressure on Hamas. “I want to ask them to continue and be committed with us until my father and all others are released, and we know we need their pressure and we need the international community to say out loud that this is not OK, this is not OK that an 80-year-old man like my father is kept in tunnels in Gaza. We need the whole world to say it clearly."Hamas carried out a killing spree in Israeli communities on October 7, taking hundreds of people hostage. Dozens of them were released during a brief ceasefire in late November, in exchange for 240 Palestinian women and teenagers from Israeli jails. On Monday, Gaza's health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said more than 19,400 people had been killed in Israel's military response to the October 7 attacks.