The families of several Israeli female soldiers taken hostage during the October 7 Hamas-led attack have released video of their kidnapping in an effort to pressure the Israeli government to revive apparently stalled ceasefire negotiations which could pave the way for the release of the prisoners. .
Family members first saw the images a few weeks ago through the Israeli army, which formally handed them a copy on Tuesday evening, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents families of hostages held captive in Gaza.
“I ask you: please show this fragment every day, open your broadcasts with it,” Eli Albag, whose daughter Liri Albag can be seen in the videosaid in a television interview with Israel's Channel 12. “Until someone wakes up, the nation wakes up and realizes that they have been abandoned there for 229 days.”
Some Israeli politicians immediately seized on the images in an attempt to refute the decision by Ireland, Norway and Spain unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state. Israel Katz, the foreign minister, said he would show the footage amid a “severe rebuke” from the countries' ambassadors.
In the three-minute edited collection of videos, verified by The New York Times, Palestinian fighters, some wearing Hamas headbands, are seen tying the hands of five Israeli women who served as lookouts for Nahal Oz, a military base near the capital. Gaza border. At least two of the hostages' faces are bloodied and appear to be wearing pajamas. The militants repeatedly threaten the women.
One of the militants calls the women “dogs” and promises to crush them. One of the women is heard telling the militants that she had “a friend in Palestine,” while another asks if any of them speak English.
In a statement, Hamas said the scenes in the edited video “could not be confirmed.” The group also claimed that a translation provided by Israeli authorities was incorrect and contained phrases “not said by any of the fighters who appeared in the video.”
Talks to secure the release of more than 125 hostages still held in Gaza have been at a standstill since Israel began its attack on the southern city of Rafah in early May. Israeli forces operating in northern Gaza have recovered the bodies of four Israelis kidnapped on October 7, raising fears for the remaining prisoners.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum identified the Israeli hostages in the video as Naama Levy, Agam Berger, Liri Albag, Karina Ariev and Daniela Gilboa, all 19 or 20 years old. The footage was recorded by body cameras worn by the Hamas militants who kidnapped them, the organization said.
Families of hostages met on Wednesday with senior Israeli leaders, including Yoav Gallant, the defense minister, and Benny Gantz, a member of the country's war cabinet, in an effort to lobby for an immediate deal with Hamas.
“The video is damning evidence of the nation's failure to bring home the hostages, who have been abandoned for 229 days,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
In a statement on social media, Mr Gantz said he was shocked by the images of the kidnapping of the five hostages and vowed to make “tough decisions” if necessary to bring the remaining prisoners in Gaza home.
Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel's parliamentary opposition, said the video was “a reminder to the world of the evil we are fighting in Gaza.”
Dmitri Chavin, Alexander Cardia And Riley Mellen reporting contributed.