Current:Home > FinanceNewly released video shows 3 hostages, including Israeli-American, being taken captive on Oct. 7 -Capitatum
Newly released video shows 3 hostages, including Israeli-American, being taken captive on Oct. 7
View
Date:2025-04-11 17:17:00
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! (126)
Related
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- More tears flow during Kelce brothers' latest 'New Heights' episode after Jason's retirement
- The trip to Margaritaville can soon be made on the Jimmy Buffett Highway
- Wisconsin appeals court says regulators must develop PFAS restrictions before mandating clean-up
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- Police find more human remains on Long Island and identify victims as a man and woman in their 50s
- Teen soccer sisters stack up mogul-like résumé: USWNT, movie cameo, now a tech investment
- March Madness: Men's college basketball conference tournament schedules and brackets
- Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
- How an Oregon tween's frantic text led to man being accused of drugging girls at sleepover
Ranking
- Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
- Married LGBTQ leaders were taking car for repairs before their arrest in Philadelphia traffic stop
- OpenAI says Elon Musk agreed ChatGPT maker should become for profit
- Jason Kelce makes good on promise to Bills fans by jumping through flaming table
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- Jason Kelce Reveals the Biggest Influence Behind His Retirement Decision
- Lucas Giolito suffers worrisome injury. Will 'pitching panic' push Red Sox into a move?
- One of the world's most populated cities is nearly out of water as many go days if not weeks without it
Recommendation
McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
A new IRS program is helping its first users file their income taxes electronically. And it’s free
Shania Twain's iconic 'Man! I Feel Like a Woman!' look becomes a Barbie
PacifiCorp ordered to pay Oregon wildfire victims another $42M. Final bill could reach billions
Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
Fed Chair Powell’s testimony to be watched for any hint on rate-cut timing
These Are 29 of the Most-Loved Dresses on Amazon
Royal Caribbean cabin attendant accused of hiding cameras in bathrooms to spy on guests