Israeli-US hostage in Hamas video
First time man, 23, shown to be alive
JERUSALEM: Hamas released a video on Wednesday apparently showing Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli American dual citizen who has been held hostage since the Oct 7 terrorist attack on Israel. It appeared to be the first time that Mr Goldberg-Polin, who was grievously injured in the attack, has been shown to be alive since his captivity began.
It is not clear when the video was filmed, but in it Mr Goldberg-Polin, who was 23 when he was abducted, says he has been held hostage for nearly 200 days, suggesting the video was made recently. He also wishes his parents a happy holiday, which may be a reference to the weeklong Passover holiday currently being celebrated.
Mr Goldberg-Polin’s parents later released a videotaped statement saying they were relieved to see their son alive but worried about his health, along with the health of the scores of other hostages still believed to be held in the Gaza Strip.
“We are here today with a plea to all of the leaders of the parties who have been negotiating to date — this includes Qatar, Egypt, the United States, Hamas and Israel — be brave, lean in, seize this moment and get a deal done to reunite all of us with our loved ones and end the suffering in this region,” his father, Jonathan Polin, said. His mother, Rachel GoldbergPolin, urged her son to “stay strong, survive.”
In a video message, Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, the spokesperson for Israel’s military, told Mr GoldbergPolin’s family that Israel would do all it could to “bring your son Hersh and all our hostages back home.”
“This is an urgent call for action. We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to find our hostages,” he said.
Mr Hersh Goldberg-Polin was attending the Tribe of Nova music festival in Re’im, Israel, when Hamas gunmen attacked, killing hundreds. He lost part of his arm while defending an emergency bomb shelter alongside his friend Aner Shapira, who was killed, according to survivors of the attack.
Rights groups and international law experts say that a hostage video is, by definition, made under duress, and the statements in it are usually coerced. Israeli officials have called the videos a form of “psychological warfare,” and experts say their production can constitute a war crime.
The circumstances of how the video was filmed were unclear, and the footage appears to have been edited. It was released on Hamas’ social media channels at about 5pm in Israel.
Mr Goldberg-Polin refers several times to his need for medical attention and shows his injured arm to the camera. The October attack left him “struggling to survive with serious injuries all over my body,” he says in the video, adding that during his captivity he has been “without water, food or sun and without treatment I have needed for so long.”
He also criticises Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and members of the government. “At a time when you are holding holiday meals with your families, think of us, the hostages who are still here in hell, under the ground,” he says.
Mr Goldberg-Polin ends the video by directly addressing his parents.
“I love you so much and miss you,” he told them. “It won’t be a happy holiday for me, but I wish you one.”