On 23 April Hamas released a propaganda video about Omri Miran, a Hungarian Israeli hostage who has been in captivity for more than 570 days. The propaganda video of the terror group was the first sign of life from Miran since a previously released Israeli hostage confirmed that he was alive last July. The family of Miran said on 23 April that it was a ‘disgrace’ that he is still being held in a tunnel on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, after Hamas published a propaganda video showing the hostage.

The family of hostage Omri Miran said on Wednesday it was a ‘disgrace’ that he is still being held in a tunnel on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, after Hamas published a propaganda video showing the hostage. ‘On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, on which it’s customary to say “never again”, there is an Israeli citizen crying out for help in a Hamas tunnel. This is a disgrace for the State of Israel,’ Miran’s family said in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

‘Our Omri is strong and will not break, but his heart is broken. A year and a half and 58 hostages are waiting to be brought back,’ the statement said. ‘We will continue to fight until Omri returns to us, and especially to his two daughters who are waiting with all their hearts to hold him again.’

The family approved the release of a still image, but asked that the full video, in which the hostage is seen walking through a tunnel in Gaza and lighting a candle to mark his birthday, not be published.

In a staged propaganda video, Omri Miran says: ‘Hello, my name is Omri Miran. I am 48 years old today. This is my second birthday here.’ He adds that he ‘hasn’t been happy for a year and a half’ and expresses how much he misses his wife and daughters. Miran also echoes Hamas’s message, blaming the Israeli government for the failure to secure a hostage deal.

‘We received confirmation of Omri’s condition through one of the returned hostages’

The Israeli Hungarian hostage was last seen in another Hamas propaganda video released on 27 April 2024, alongside fellow hostage Keith Siegel, who was released on 1 February.

In February, a released Israeli hostage confirmed that Miran was alive, and in July, he was in relatively stable condition.

‘We received confirmation of Omri’s condition through one of the returned hostages,’ his brother Boaz revealed on 11 February, adding: ‘They said his condition was generally stable during the time they spent together, both in the tunnels and in the residential buildings.’

Hostage’s Wife: ‘This is not a conflict—it’s a new Shoah’

As Hungarian Conservative reported, 46-year-old Omri Miran was taken captive on 7 October by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nir Oz, leaving his wife, Lishay Miran, 38, and their six-month-old and two-year-old daughters behind. On 7 October, after hearing the sirens in the morning, the Miran family rushed to their safe room. At 10:30am, Hamas terrorists broke into their house and forced them to come out together with a 16-year-old neighbour, Tomer Arbe-Eliaz, who asked the family to open the door, fearing for his life. The terrorists initially considered killing the family, but opted to relocate everyone to a neighbouring house. As they were sitting on the floor with their neighbours, they heard how the 18-year-old daughter of the neighbouring family was killed by the terrorists in their safe room. At around 1pm, two more women were brought to the house, and 30 minutes later, the terrorists instructed Omri and the other family’s father to stand and took them, along with their car keys. Lishay told Omri minutes before: ‘I love you, I’ll protect our girls, we’re waiting for you, and don’t be a hero.’  After Omri was abducted, Lishay and her girls, along with her neighbours, had to sit for another four hours until IDF soldiers found them at 5:30pm.

‘As they were sitting on the floor…they heard how the 18-year-old daughter of the neighbouring family was killed by the terrorists’

At the MERKAZ Hebrew and Israeli Cultural Centre conference in Hungary in December 2023, former Israeli Ambassador to Hungary Yakov Hadas-Handelsman delivered opening remarks. He was followed by members of Omri Miran’s family, including his wife Lishay, who shared personal accounts of the horrors they experienced and the ongoing ordeal of their abducted loved ones. Lishay recounted the fear she felt on 7 October during the Hamas attack. She emphasized that for the Jewish people of Israel, the events of that day are not seen as just another phase in the Arab–Israeli conflict, but as a new Holocaust—a new Shoah. Despite the painful irony of having to say ‘Never again!’ as it happens again, she expressed hope for the future and a longing to be reunited with her loved ones.

Daniel Miran, the father of Omri Miran, highlighted that although he was bitter and heartbroken about the loss of Omri, he felt happy that his daughter and grandchildren were alive and that there was hope for Omri’s return. Miran also emphasized his gratitude for the support of the Hungarian people, as well as his appreciation to the Hungarian government and the Israeli Embassy for their assistance in the challenging situation.

Hamas Releases Propaganda Videos as a Form of Psychological Warfare

Hamas has released several videos in the past of hostages, which Israel condemns as a form of deplorable psychological warfare. Most Israeli media outlets typically refrain from broadcasting these video clips unless the families of the individuals depicted give their consent for distribution.

Miran was captured by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Nahal Oz during the attack, in which terrorists killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 251 others.

‘Hamas has released several videos in the past of hostages, which Israel condemns as a form of deplorable psychological warfare’

He is one of 59 hostages still held by terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip, including 58 of the 251 people abducted on 7 October. Among them are also the bodies of at least 35 individuals confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas released 30 hostages and the bodies of eight deceased Israeli captives during a ceasefire between January and March. Additionally, the group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released earlier in the initial weeks of the war. In return, Israel has liberated approximately 2,000 Palestinian terrorists, security prisoners, and Gaza terror suspects who were detained during the war.

Eight hostages have been rescued alive by Israeli forces, while the bodies of 41 others have been recovered—including three who were mistakenly killed by Israeli troops during an escape attempt, and a soldier killed in 2014 whose remains are still held by Hamas and counted among the 59 hostages.

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