Hamas Releases Video of Israeli Hostage Delivering Message in Captivity
A video released by Hamas on Wednesday shows one of its Israeli hostages, identified as Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, delivering a statement while in captivity. The message, clearly crafted by Hamas, highlights the young man's 200 days in captivity, indicating that it may have been filmed on or around April 24, marking 200 days since the initial attack by Hamas.
The authenticity of the video and the date of filming have not been verified by CBS News. The video was shared on a social media channel frequently used by Hamas' armed Al-Qassam Brigades to disseminate propaganda, including videos featuring other hostages.
Goldberg-Polin, now 24, was gravely injured during a music festival near the Gaza border when Hamas militants carried out a terrorist attack on October 7.
In the video, Goldberg-Polin shows that he is missing his left hand, and there are some marks visible on his head and face, but he speaks clearly in Hebrew and appears otherwise thin but healthy. The video includes English subtitles, which CBS News has verified as accurate.
The statement he delivers, clearly under duress in Hamas captivity, includes a litany of insults and admonishments for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to secure a deal for the remaining hostages' release.
There are believed to be about 100 people still held in Gaza, of the roughly 240 initially taken hostage by Hamas.
It is not clear how many of the remaining hostages are still alive, but Goldberg-Polin says in the videotaped statement that Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have killed about 70 of the captives. Hamas has previously issued false statements about the hostages' fate, accusing Israel of killing people who were later found alive.
The video was released the day after Jews marked the Passover holiday, and the Israeli-American man's mother Rachel Goldberg was quoted Tuesday by the French news agency AFP as saying, "all of the symbolic things we do at the seder will take on a much more profound and deep meaning this year."
Goldberg shared with CBS' "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan earlier this month that her family was enduring "a painful, staggeringly indescribable odyssey" as they awaited news of her son. They were already aware that he had lost part of an arm in the Oct. 7 attack on the Supernova music festival and had to apply his own tourniquet, as per witnesses.
Goldberg-Polin is one of eight Americans still believed to be held in Gaza.
In the video, the young man expresses that Netanyahu and his fellow Israeli leaders should be "ashamed" for continuing their mission in Gaza while he and his fellow captives are trapped "in underground hell, without water, food, or sun."
Towards the end of the statement, Goldberg-Polin directly addresses his family, mentioning his parents and siblings and stating: "I love you. I know you're doing your best to bring me home as soon as possible. I want you to stay strong for me
Goldberg-Polin's parents are part of the group of relatives and loved ones of hostages who have met with Israeli leaders multiple times to urge them to negotiate a new cease-fire and hostage release agreement with Hamas.
"I don't know if the cabinet needed a fire lit under them to secure the release of these hostages," his father Jonathan Polin told CBS News' Chris Livesay in December. "But if they did, it needs to happen today."
"If Hersh somehow, somewhere can hear this — just know we love you, stay strong, survive," his mother pleaded in a heartfelt interview, conveying a message of hope and support: "We're coming. The world is coming."
