The families of three men taken hostage by Hamasincluding a well-known Israeli-American, have authorized the release of a video documenting the kidnapping near the Israel-Gaza border on October 7.
Bring Them Home Now, a group representing the families of the hostages, shared the video on social media on Monday after the Israeli military declassified it.
In the video, which is graphic and difficult to watch, Palestinian militants are seen carrying three hostages. including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, in the back of a white pick-up truck driving through southern Israel to Gaza. Goldberg-Polin sits bloodied, his forearm a shattered stump. Hamas has since released a video of him in captivity with part of his left arm amputated.
Goldberg-Polin and the other two hostages in the video, Eliya Cohen, 26, and Or Levy, 33, were at the Tribe of Nova music festival when Hamas launched its attack. All three men are believed to be still being held by Hamas.
In a statement released alongside the images, Bring Them Home Now called for an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would allow the hostages who are still alive to return home and allow those killed to have a proper burial. The statement echoed requests from the families of the hostages for the Israeli government to reach a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian group, as negotiations for a pause in Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip and the terms of the release of the hostages remain deadlocked.
Most of the images were captured by militants who left Gaza in an attack that killed approximately 1,200 people and took about 250 more hostages. The video begins with apparent security camera footage showing Palestinian militants, some wearing green army fatigues, approaching a shelter.
A militant fires four times at the shelter door as smoke billows out. The video cuts to a clip filmed by a Goldberg-Polin activist and another hostage being pushed into the bed of a truck. Some images are blacked out to censor what the hostage families group said was particularly sensitive material.
In the video, the militant holding the camera celebrates the capture and thanks and praises God. “Here are the dogs,” he says, scanning to reveal the hostages.
Another activist pulls Goldberg-Polin's hair, and the person holding the camera says, “I want to take a selfie with you.”
Goldberg-Polin is seen with a tourniquet tied to her arm. Witnesses said he was injured when the attackers threw grenades at the shelter where people had taken refuge. His mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, told The Associated Press on Monday that “262 days later, a lot of people think of these hostages just as this group of people, not as individuals. And we feel personally that this is our son.” .
Rachel Goldberg-Polin, Hersh's mother, has been a vocal advocate for resolving the hostage situation since her son was taken on Oct. 7. he spoke to CBS News in April after Hersh first appeared in a video released by Hamas, saying at the time that he hadn't heard his voice in six months.
“He is clearly medically compromised and medically fragile,” she said.
In the video released Monday, Levy is seen lying in the back of the truck with Goldberg-Polin and Cohen. Levy attended the Nova festival with his wife Einav, who was killed by militants, according to the hostage families group. Levy's older brother, Michael Levy, said watching the new video was “horrific.”
“The most horrible day of his life, I couldn't do anything,” Levy said. “I've never seen him so terrified in my life.”
Cohen went to the festival with his girlfriend, who survived the attack under the bodies in the shelter. In the video, a militant kneels in Cohen's bloody face, pressing him against the bed of the truck.
