‘Damning’: Hostages’ families release new video of capture by Hamas

New video has emerged of the capture of three wounded and terrified young Israeli men from the Nova music festival on October 7 | WATCH

The three Israeli hostages seen in the video are (L to R): Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eliya Cohen and Or Levy,

New video has emerged of the capture of three wounded and terrified young Israeli men from the Nova music festival on October 7.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin (23), Eliya Cohen (26), and Or Levy (33), one with his arm blown off, were dragged onto the flatbed of Hamas militants’ truck where they lay cowering as their captors pointed AK-47s at them.

The footage, found by the Israeli Defence Forces on a Hamas video, was released by the

Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which described it as a “damning testament” to the government’s “abandonment” of the hostages, many of whom are now believed to have died in captivity.

“This harrowing footage stands as a damning testament to the 262-day-long abandonment of our loved ones. Hersh, Eliya, and Or were taken alive, and they must return alive, today,” the forum said in a statement. “Every day that passes puts the hostages at greater risk and diminishes our chances of bringing them back safely.

“After nearly 9 months of fighting and despite recent achievements, it’s clear to everyone that returning all 120 hostages is only possible through a deal! We must approve and implement an agreement that will bring all hostages home – the living for rehabilitation and the murdered for proper burial,” the statement added.

The video shows the militants throwing a grenade into a shelter where nearly 30 people, including the three young men, were hiding. According to the Times of Israel, Mr Goldberg-Polin and his friend Aner Shapira had fled to the shelter as the attack began. When the grenades were thrown inside, Mr Shapira threw seven back out but was killed by the eighth grenade. Mr Goldberg-Polin had his arm blown off from the elbow down; the video shows him, badly wounded, being loaded onto the truck with his arm bound in a tourniquet.

Mr Cohen and Mr Levy were also in the shelter with Mr Cohen’s girlfriend Ziv Abud and Mr Levy’s wife Eynav. Eynav was killed in the attack while Ziv was able to hide under a pile of dead bodies.

In the video, as the truck speeds toward Gaza, the militants’ camera is directed to each terrified hostage in turn as their captors shout ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is Great).

After the release of the video, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it “breaks all of our hearts, and once again emphasises the cruelty of the enemy that we have pledged to eliminate. We will not stop the war until we bring all of our 120 loved ones home.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli military on Monday confirmed the death of a soldier held hostage by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip for nearly nine months.

In a separate statement the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that Mohammad Alatrash was killed during the October attack on southern Israel and his body taken captive by Hamas militants.

Israeli authorities had previously confirmed Mr Alatrash, a sergeant major in the Israeli military’s Bedouin Trackers Unit, was taken hostage on October 7.

Mr Alatrash, 39, is survived by two wives and 13 children, the forum said in a statement.

“The Families Forum will continue to support and stand by the family during this difficult time and until his remains are returned to Israel,” it said.

His death raises the toll from Hamas’s attack to 1,195, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Palestinian militants also took 251 people hostage in the attack, 116 of whom remain captive in the Gaza Strip, according to Israel. Of those, the military says 42 are dead, including at least nine soldiers.

With AFP