On September 5, 2025, Hamas released a new video showing two Israeli hostages, Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Alon Ohel, who were seized during the October 2023 attack on a music festival in Israel. The video, which appeared edited and showed the men visibly exhausted, has reignited tensions and debate over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza, the fate of the remaining hostages, and the mounting humanitarian crisis gripping the enclave.
According to Reuters, Gilboa-Dalal, aged 24, is seen in the backseat of a car, stating he is being held in Gaza City along with other hostages. He expresses palpable fear, saying he is afraid of being killed by Israel’s offensive on the city. Ohel, also 24, appears briefly in the footage. The video, dated August 28, was released on September 5, but Reuters could not independently confirm when it was recorded. Gilboa-Dalal identifies a building as belonging to the Red Cross, though Hamas has refused to allow the Red Cross access to the hostages. Human Rights Watch has condemned such hostage videos, calling them inhumane and amounting to a war crime. Israeli officials, for their part, describe the videos as psychological warfare, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labeling the latest release “cruel propaganda.”
The two men are among 48 people still held by Hamas in Gaza, with only about 20 believed to be alive. The October 2023 cross-border attack by Palestinian militants resulted in the abduction of 251 hostages and the deaths of roughly 1,200 Israelis, sparking the current war. Since then, more than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to local health authorities, and much of the territory has been reduced to rubble. Residents now face a humanitarian catastrophe, with basic necessities in short supply and entire neighborhoods displaced.
Israel’s military campaign has been relentless. Last month, Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to capture Gaza City, described by officials as the last bastion of Hamas. By early September, the military claimed control of about 75% of Gaza and approximately 40% of Gaza City, where a million people lived before the war. On September 5, Israeli forces bombed a high-rise building in western Gaza City, which collapsed moments after impact, sending thick clouds of smoke over nearby tent camps. The military asserted that the building was being used by Hamas, stating that civilians had been warned to evacuate. However, the building’s management denied any militant use, insisting it was sheltering Palestinians displaced by the conflict.
As the offensive continues, the toll on civilians grows. Gaza’s health ministry reported that 30 Palestinians were killed by Israeli military strikes on September 5 alone, including 20 in Gaza City. The military has been advancing through the city’s outer suburbs, with forces now only a few kilometers from the city center. Ismail, a father of two from Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, described the relentless shelling and explosions to Reuters, saying, “We pray for a ceasefire.” He explained that his family feared leaving their home, worried they would never be able to return.
The humanitarian crisis has reached a breaking point. On September 6, the IDF announced the establishment of a new humanitarian zone in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. According to The Times of Israel, the zone will include field hospitals, water pipelines, desalination facilities, and a steady flow of food, tents, medicine, and medical supplies. These efforts are being coordinated through COGAT with the United Nations and other international organizations. The move comes as the IDF intensifies its offensive in northern Gaza, urging civilians to evacuate southward from Gaza City. The military’s stated aim is to seize remaining Hamas strongholds and ultimately conquer the city. This announcement follows a warning last week by the UN’s World Food Program that Gaza is “at breaking point.” Israel has signaled plans to scale up humanitarian infrastructure in the south as the fighting continues in the north.
Efforts to secure the release of hostages have stalled. Tens of thousands of Israelis have staged weekly demonstrations demanding an end to the war and the safe return of those held in Gaza. On September 5, hundreds gathered in a public square in Tel Aviv to mark 700 days since the hostages were taken captive. After the release of the latest video, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid urged negotiators to resume talks on a deal to secure the hostages’ release. Previous releases were achieved through diplomatic negotiations mediated by the United States and Arab states, but the last round of talks collapsed in July.
Political divisions within Israel have sharpened. Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called for a full occupation of Gaza in response to the video, while Israel’s military leadership has reportedly cautioned Netanyahu against further expanding the war. Families of the hostages and their supporters worry that intensified military action could endanger the captives. Hamas has signaled a willingness to release some hostages in exchange for a temporary ceasefire, but Netanyahu is pushing for an all-or-nothing deal, demanding the release of all hostages and Hamas’s surrender.
Defense Minister Israel Katz doubled down on the government’s position on September 5, stating that military operations would intensify until Hamas accepts Israel’s conditions for ending the war: the release of all hostages and the group’s disarmament. “Otherwise, the group would be destroyed,” he declared. Hamas, meanwhile, has long offered to release all hostages in exchange for an end to the war and Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza.
This standoff leaves little room for optimism. The humanitarian corridor in Khan Younis may provide some relief for displaced civilians, but as the military advances and negotiations remain deadlocked, the fate of the hostages and the broader civilian population hangs in the balance. The war has already exacted a staggering human cost on both sides, and the path forward remains fraught with peril and uncertainty.
For now, the world watches as Gaza’s tragedy deepens, hoping for a breakthrough that could bring both relief to its people and a measure of justice to those still waiting for answers.