‘Underground hell’
HAMAS published a propaganda video of Israeli-American dual citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin on Wednesday, marking the first sign of life from the 23-year-old since he was abducted by the terror group on October 7. In the video, a sickly, pale and gaunt-looking Mr Goldberg-Polin identified himself as Israeli and said he had been held captive for “nearly 200 days”, suggesting that the video was taken recently, the Times of Israel noted. In the statement, likely made under duress and at least partly read out from a teleprompter, he spoke about living in “underground hell without water, food, sun or medical treatment”. He said at least 70 of the remaining roughly 130 hostages had been killed in Gaza by Israeli bombings — a common claim by Hamas after it has killed captives — although official Israeli estimates have put the number of dead closer to 35, The Telegraph reported. Mr Goldberg-Polin was seen with a buzzed haircut and missing his left arm from below the elbow. The limb was blown off when Hamas descended on the Supernova music festival in the Negev desert in the early hours of October 7. “Seeing the video of Hersh today is overwhelming,” Mr Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Rachel and Jon, said in a statement viewed by The Post. “We are relieved to see him alive but we are also concerned about his health and wellbeing as well as that of all the other hostages and all of those suffering in this region. “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. “Hersh, we heard your voice today for the first time in 201 days and if you can hear us, we are telling you, we love you, stay strong, survive.” Rachel and Jon met as children in Chicago and moved to Israel when their son was seven. The video of Mr Goldberg-Polin was released just a few days after his family made yet another impassioned plea for his return in honour of the start of Passover. “All of the symbolic things we do at the Seder will take on a much more profound and deep meaning this year,” Rachel told reporters ahead of the major holiday. Though the family planned to participate in a Seder, they were not sure how it would play out, she added. “If 15 minutes in, we just can’t do it, and we need to cry, then we will cry,” she said. Rachel and Jon sat down with The Post earlier in April to mark six months since their son and over 250 others were taken by Hamas during the deadly terror attack. “At a certain point, we did realise that hope is mandatory, optimism is mandatory,” Rachel said. “We’re trying to save our son’s life, we’re trying to help save the lives of all of the hostages who are still alive.” Before his abduction, Mr Goldberg-Polin was known for his love of reading, his passion for soccer and music festivals, and “funny, but not clownish” personality. When asked how the family planned to mark Passover in 2024, Rachel insisted that they planned on having their son “home, at our table”.