Current:Home > StocksNewly released video shows 3 hostages, including Israeli-American, being taken captive on Oct. 7 -Elevate Profit Vision
Newly released video shows 3 hostages, including Israeli-American, being taken captive on Oct. 7
View
Date:2025-04-13 10:19:00
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! (97386)
Related
- The company planning a successor to Concorde makes its first supersonic test
- Most money for endangered species goes to a small number of creatures, leaving others in limbo
- Court in Canadian province blocks new laws against public use of illegal substances
- The Biden administration once again bypasses Congress on an emergency weapons sale to Israel
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- Michigan insists reaction to facing Alabama in playoff was shock, but it wasn't convincing
- SUV plows into Albuquerque garage, killing homeowner
- What does Watch Night mean for Black Americans today? It dates back to the Emancipation Proclamation
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Hi Hi!
- Separatist Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik vows to tear his country apart despite US warnings
Ranking
- Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
- A Hong Kong pro-independence activist seeks asylum in the UK after serving time over security law
- Google settles $5 billion privacy lawsuit over tracking people using 'incognito mode'
- Google settles $5 billion privacy lawsuit over tracking people using 'incognito mode'
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- Watch as Florida firefighters, deputies save family's Christmas after wreck drowns gifts
- Top global TikToks of 2023: Mr. Bean of math, makeup demo, capybaras!
- Ellen Pompeo marks return as Meredith Grey in 'Grey's Anatomy' Season 20 teaser
Recommendation
Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
Thousands accuse Serbia’s ruling populists of election fraud at a Belgrade rally
Rihanna and Kyle Richards Meet While Shopping in Aspen Just Before the New Year
'All Thing Considered' staff shares their most memorable stories from 2023
Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
Powerful Pacific swell brings threat of more dangerous surf to California
How J.J. McCarthy's pregame ritual will help Michigan QB prepare to face Alabama
US citizen inspired by Hamas sought to wage jihad against ‘No. 1 enemy’ America, prosecutors say