Sawt Falasteen - Hamas armed wing releases video of apparently injured Israeli hostage

In the undated four-minute video, the hostage, wearing bandages on his head and left arm spoke in Hebrew, implying he had been wounded in a recent Israeli bombardment.

AFP and Israeli media identified the hostage as Russian-Israeli Maxim Herkin, who turns 37 a the end of May. His family urged media not to disseminate the video.

He referred to himself only as "Prisoner 24" in the footage and was not identified by Hamas.

He was shown lying on the ground and referred to Israel's Independence Day celebrations on Thursday as upcoming, suggesting the video was filmed shortly beforehand.

AFP was unable to determine the health of Herkin, who gave a similar message to other hostages shown in videos released by Hamas, urging pressure on the Israeli government to free the remaining captives.

Militants in the territory still hold 58 hostages seized in Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel. The army says 34 of them are dead. Hamas is also holding the remains of an Israeli soldier killed in a previous war in Gaza in 2014.

- 'Coming home' -

Herkin also appeared in a previous video released by Hamas in early April, wearing a small bandage on his right wrist and a bandage on his cheek and ear. In that video, he appeared alongside a second hostage Israeli media identified as soldier Bar Kuperstein.

Palestinian militants had abducted the two men from the Nova music festival during the Hamas attack which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

A truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas came into force on January 19, largely halting more than 15 months of fighting. During the six-week ceasefire militants handed over 33 hostages, eight of them dead.

Israel resumed major operations across Gaza on March 18 amid deadlock over next steps in the ceasefire.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Saturday that at least 2,396 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in Gaza, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,495.

The Israeli government says its renewed offensive aims to force Hamas to free the remaining captives, although critics charge that it puts them in mortal danger.

Since the end of the truce, Hamas has released several videos of hostages. The latest images come as efforts by mediators to broker a new truce have stalled.

Herkin, had emigrated to Israel from Ukraine with his mother.

Before being taken from the Nova festival, Herkin, father of a young girl, had written to his mother: "All is well. I'm coming home."

K.AbuTaha--SF-PST