Hamas releases video of 23-year-old Israeli-American hostage held in Gaza

The Palestinian militant movement Hamas published a video on Wednesday apparently showing Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American seized during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and taken hostage into Gaza, alive.

The short video, which is undated, showed the 23-year-old missing his lower arm, which was blown off during the Hamas-led attack in October, but otherwise apparently healthy.

His mother Rachel Goldberg-Polin has been campaigning actively for the release of her son, who was abducted at the Nova music festival that was attacked by Hamas gunmen early on Oct. 7 and is one of 133 Israeli hostages still in captivity after more than 100 were released last year.

Around 250 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage by the gunmen, who killed some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, in the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.

In response, Israel launched an assault on Gaza, pledging to destroy Hamas and bring the hostages home. The assault has so far killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group said his family had “given permission for the video of their son Hersh” to be broadcast by the media.

“I went to hang out with my friends, and instead, I found myself fighting for my life with severe injuries all over my body,” he says in the video, the authenticity of which AFP has not been able to independently verify.

It is also unclear when or where the video was taken, though Goldberg-Polin mentions being held hostage “for almost 200 days.”

The Israel-Hamas war hit the 200-day mark on Tuesday.

Posted on Hamas’s official Telegram account, the footage shows Goldberg-Polin, criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the crisis and the military’s failed attempts to bring the hostages home.