Current:Home > ContactNewly released video shows 3 hostages, including Israeli-American, being taken captive on Oct. 7 -MarketLink
Newly released video shows 3 hostages, including Israeli-American, being taken captive on Oct. 7
View
Date:2025-04-14 13:14:34
The families of three men taken hostage by Hamas, including a well-known Israeli-American, have authorized the release of a video documenting the kidnapping near the Israel-Gaza border on Oct. 7.
Bring Them Home Now, a group that represents the hostages' families, shared the video on social media Monday after the Israeli army declassified it.
In the video, which is graphic and hard to watch, Palestinian militants are seen carting three hostages, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, in the back of a white pickup truck that speeds through southern Israel back toward Gaza. Goldberg-Polin sits bloodied, his forearm a mangled stump. Hamas has since released a video of him in captivity with part of his left arm amputated.
Goldberg-Polin and the two other 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 still believed to be held by Hamas.
In a statement posted alongside the footage, Bring Them Home Now called for an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would allow hostages who are still alive to return home and allow those killed to have a proper burial. The statement echoed pleas from families of the hostages for the Israeli government to reach a cease-fire deal with the Palestinian group, as negotiations for a pause in Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip and the terms of the hostages' release continue to stall.
Most of the footage was taken by militants who stormed out of Gaza in an attack that killed roughly 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage. The video begins with apparent security camera footage showing Palestinian militants, some in green army fatigues, approaching a shelter.
One militant shoots four times into the shelter's door as smoke wafts out. The video cuts to a clip filmed by a militant of Goldberg-Polin and another hostage being pushed into the bed of a truck. Some images are blurred to censor what the hostage families group said is especially 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 show the hostages.
Another militant 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 around his arm. Witnesses have said he was wounded when attackers tossed grenades into the shelter where people had taken refuge. His mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, told The Associated Press on Monday that, "262 days in, a lot of people are thinking about these hostages as just this clump of people, not individuals. And we personally feel 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. She spoke to CBS News in April after Hersh appeared for the first time in a video released by Hamas, saying at the time that she had not heard his voice in six months.
"He's 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."
"On the most horrific day of his life, I wasn't able to 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 bodies in the shelter. In the video, a militant kneels on Cohen's bloody face, pressing it into the truck bed.
- In:
- Hostage Situation
- Hamas
- Israel
- Gaza Strip
veryGood! (91)
Related
- Pregnant Kylie Kelce Shares Hilarious Question Her Daughter Asked Jason Kelce Amid Rising Fame
- With GOP maps out, Democrats hope for more legislative power in battleground Wisconsin
- Woman claims to be missing child Cherrie Mahan, last seen in Pennsylvania 39 years ago
- ‘Cheaters don’t like getting caught': VP Harris speaks about Trump conviction on Jimmy Kimmel
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- Can you hear me now? Verizon network outage in Midwest, West is now resolved, company says
- Columbia University and a Jewish student agree on a settlement that imposes more safety measures
- The Book Report: Washington Post critic Ron Charles (June 2)
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- U.S. soldier-turned-foreign fighter faces charges in Florida double murder after extradition from Ukraine
Ranking
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- The 50 Best Fashion Deals for Father's Day 2024: Men's Wearhouse, The North Face, Callaway, REI & More
- Congressman's son steals the show making silly faces behind dad during speech on the House floor
- Halsey Lucky to Be Alive Amid Health Battle
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Gilgo Beach killings suspect to face charge in another murder, reports say
- North Carolina state senator drops effort to restrict access to autopsy reports
- Maryland agencies must submit a plan to help fight climate change, governor says
Recommendation
Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
Tech news site Gizmodo sold for third time in 8 years as European publisher Keleops looks to expand
Amanda Knox reconvicted of slander in Italy for accusing innocent man in roommate’s 2007 murder
Modi claims victory in Indian election, vows to continue with his agenda despite drop in support
Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
Ex-husband of ‘Real Housewives’ star convicted of hiring mobster to assault her boyfriend
12-year-old boy accidentally shoots cousin with gun, charged with homicide: Reports
How ‘Eruption,’ the new Michael Crichton novel completed with James Patterson’s help, was created