White House National Security Council Spokesperson Sean Savett responded to a video released by Hamas on Saturday where an Israeli-American hostage spoke about the horrors of life as a captive for more than 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,” Savett wrote.
“The war in Gaza would stop tomorrow and the suffering of Gazans would end immediately — and would have ended months ago — if Hamas agreed to release the hostages.”
The video, just over 3 minutes long, was posted to Telegram and had a message for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President-elect Trump.
“The prime minister is supposed to protect his citizens and soldiers, and you neglected us,” Alexander said, fighting tears.
He begged the nation’s public not to forget those imprisoned by Hamas and encouraged them to host demonstrations calling for their freedom.
“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,” said Alexander.
“Please, people of Israel, go out to demonstrate every day and pressure the government. It is time to put an end to this nightmare.”
Alexander asked Trump to do the same.
“Please use your influence and the full power of the United States to negotiate for our freedom,” the hostage stated.
“Every day here feels like an eternity, and the pain from inside grows from day to day. Please do not make the mistake Biden has been doing,” Alexander added.
“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 …”
Netanyahu responded to the video with a statement promising the Israeli government is doing everything possible to bring home the hostages.
World leaders have unsuccessfully been pushing for a ceasefire for months.
Trump has pledged to swiftly end conflict in the region upon taking office.
