New York mayoral candidate Mamdani comments on Israeli hostages after backlash

After facing backlash for remaining silent during the release of Israeli hostages from Gaza, socialist candidate for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani finally broke his silence Monday afternoon.

“Today’s scenes from Israelis and Palestinians are deeply moving: Israeli hostages freed and families reunited after years of fear, uncertainty and torture; first days in Gaza without relentless Israeli bombardment of Palestinians as families return to rubble and loved ones released from detention,” Mamdani posted on Monday shortly after 4 p.m. EST in a message that did not mention President Donald Trump or acknowledge his role in the negotiations.

Mamdani then called the development a “ray of hope” that the ceasefire “will hold” and “the long and difficult work of reconstruction can begin.”

“I also know that this news brings comfort to millions of New Yorkers, who have felt the pain of recent years,” Mamdani said. “We have seen our taxes finance a genocide. The moral and human cost will be a lasting stain and will require accountability and a real examination of our collective conscience and our government’s policies.”

MAMDANI CAUGHT ON CAMERA AND CHASED FROM MANHATTAN SQUARE; PROTESTER CALLS HIM “ANTISEMITE”

Zohran Mamdani, Democratic candidate for mayor of New York, speaks to supporters during a campaign kickoff event in Prospect Park on August 17, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)

Mamdani’s long message concluded by asserting that the “responsibility now falls” on those who “believe in peace.”

“Once aid is delivered, the injured are treated and a lasting agreement is reached, we can no longer look away,” Mamdani said. “We must work for a future based on justice, without occupation or apartheid, and for a world where everyone can live in safety and dignity.”

Mamdani’s message came about three hours after one of his opponents, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, denounced him on social media for not commenting that morning on the release of the hostages.

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A group of Hamas gunmen in Deir-el Balah are seen in central Gaza as 20 live Israeli hostages were released on October 13, 2025. (TPS-IL)

“It should not go unnoticed that @ZohrankMamdani – who still refuses to condemn the phrase ‘globalizing the Intifada’ (widely understood to mean the death of Jews) – has yet to comment on the release of the hostages,” Cuomo said. posted on. “His silence speaks volumes.”

Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa released statements on social media earlier in the morning welcoming the hostages’ release, with Sliwa the only one to congratulate Trump by name.

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President Donald Trump poses for a photo with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before boarding Air Force One at Ben Gurion International Airport, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, near Tel Aviv, as Israeli President Isaac Herzog, left, looks on. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

In a Interview with CNN On Friday, Mamdani suggested he was willing to give Trump credit.

“If the genocide ends, then I think that is something worth celebrating, and if the hostages are returned,” Mamdani said. “These things need to be done in tandem.”

Mamdani’s post quickly drew critical reactions, including from Republican New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov.

“GUARANTEEDLY MISSING FROM THIS SAD WORD: any mention of Hamas or the TERRORISTS who were guilty of this by murdering and raping their way through Israel on 10/7,” Vernikov posted on. “You know, the same terrorists that your wife glorified on her Instagram story? Those terrorists?”

Mamdani, who has been widely criticized for his comments and positions on Israel, spent Sunday evening raising money for a United Nations organization that employed October 7 terrorists, just hours before the last living Israeli hostages were released from captivity by Hamas.

Trump celebrated “peace in the Middle East” after signing the historic peace deal that ended two years of fighting in Gaza.

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“We finally have peace in the Middle East, and it’s a very simple phrase, peace in the Middle East,” Trump said during a speech in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, along with dozens of world leaders.

“We’ve been hearing it for many years, but no one thought it would ever get there. And now here we are.”

Trump continued: “This is the day that people in this region and around the world have worked, fought, hoped and prayed for. With the historic agreement we just signed, those prayers of millions have finally been answered. Together, we have achieved the impossible.”

His remarks came after Hamas released the last 20 living hostages on Monday, as Israel relinquished its frontline position in Gaza over the weekend.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign but did not immediately receive a response.

Anders Hagstrom and Morgan Phillips of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.