Hamas released a video on Monday, October 30, claiming it shows three women among the more than 230 individuals whom Israel alleges were kidnapped by militants and transported to Gaza during the attacks on October 7.

The Palestinian Islamist group referred to the women in the 76-second video as “Zionist detainees,” but it was not immediately possible to verify their identities.

Sitting on plastic chairs against a white tile wall, one of the women urges Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a prisoner exchange for the release of all captives.

Speaking in Hebrew, she becomes very agitated and starts shouting, almost screaming by the end, as the other two sitting on either side of her remain silent.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced on Monday as “cruel psychological propaganda” the Hamas video that the Palestinian group said showed three hostages seized by militants during the massive October 7 attacks.

Netanyahu named the three women: Yelena Trupanob, Daniel Aloni and Rimon Kirsht. He vowed “to bring all the abducted and missing people home.”

The hostages were seized when hundreds of Hamas gunmen stormed across the border into southern Israel and attacked kibbutz communities, towns and military bases. Their ages range between a few months old to more than 80 years old.

Authorities believe that they are being held in a giant network of underground tunnels built by Hamas in the besieged territory.

Israel says that 1,400 people, mainly civilians, were killed in the worst attacks in Israel’s history, prompting its forces to unleash the current Gaza war.

The Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza says more than 8,300 people, mainly civilians, more than half of them being women and children, have been killed in Israeli air and ground strikes.

The Israeli government made no immediate comment on the video.

Facing growing domestic pressure over the detainees, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant accused the militants on Sunday of playing “psychological games” over the hostages’ fate.

On October 16, Hamas released a video showing Israeli-French hostage Mia Shem.

Khalil Wakim, with AFP