Hamas terrorists cram bloodied hostages into truck in newly unveiled video

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Footage of three individuals abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7 shows hostages Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Or Levy and Eliya Cohen wounded and bleeding as they are forcibly taken to Gaza in a speeding pickup truck driven by the terrorists. 

The families of the victims, alongside the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, released the footage to highlight the Israeli government's responsibility to secure a deal and bring the hostages home.

The terror group kidnapped Goldberg-Polin, Levy and Cohen from the field shelter they were hiding in after Hamas attacked the Nova Music Festival in Re'im during its Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel in which terrorists killed over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted over 240 people, sparking Israel's military offensive in Gaza. 

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Hamas killed over 300 people at the festival and seized 40 as hostages. There have also been reports of terrorists committing extreme acts of sexual violence against women. 

The families of the victims and the Hostages Forum are calling on the Israeli government to recover the hostages, as some feel the government has abandoned the victims, The Times of Israel reports. 

"The harsh video is a serious indictment of the neglect that has been going on for 262 days," the Hostages Forum said in a statement. "Hersh, Eliya and Or were kidnapped alive and so they have to return, today. Every day that passes endangers the abductees and may torpedo the ability to bring them home."

One section of the footage shows Hamas terrorists throwing grenades into the field shelter where the three hostages had hidden. Another portion of the video shows terrorists forcing an injured Goldberg-Polin onto the truck, who had just had his arm blown off below the elbow. The terrorists who abducted the three men carried guns and yelled "Allahu akbar" (God is great!) as they drove the truck into Gaza.

In response to the video's release, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement Monday, promising that the victims taken captive by Hamas will return home. 

"The shocking abduction video of Hersh, Or and Eliya breaks all of our hearts and re-emphasizes the brutality of the enemy whom we have sworn to eliminate," Netanyahu stated. "We will not end the war until we return all 120 of our loved ones home."

The Nova Music Festival was supposed to be an all-night dance party, but rocket fire disrupted the event. Survivors of the attack on the festival recalled Hamas terrorists shooting at festival attendees as people tried to flee on foot or in their cars. 

In the footage released Monday, the first half of the video shows Hamas terrorists throwing grenades into a field shelter where around 30 people had hidden after the attack had begun. 

Goldberg-Polin and his friend Aner Shapira ran to the shelter in the early morning hours of Oct. 7 to escape the rocket barrage, according to The Times of Israel.

Shapira was eventually killed by one of the grenades the terrorists threw into the shelter, where Cohen was also hiding with his girlfriend, Ziv Abud. 

Cohen and Abud hid under the dead bodies of Abud's niece and her nephew's girlfriend, who had also hidden in the shelter. The couple held hands and whispered silently to each other before Abud felt something pull Cohen away from her. She said she saw him placed on the truck and driven away.

The third hostage, Levy, had hidden in the shelter as well with his wife, Eynav, who was killed, while Hamas took Levy back to Gaza as a hostage.

During a White House event this month to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, Vice President Kamala Harris urged Hamas to accept a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal. Amit Soussana, the first former hostage to publicly speak out about the sexual assault she endured while captive in Gaza, spoke at the event. 

She said that being "in captivity means having no control over your mind, body, or soul." 

"You have absolutely no control over what happens to you," she said. "All your basic human rights are taken from you. Even your feelings are completely controlled by someone else."