Israel releases video clip of female conscripts held by Hamas
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A militant binding the hands of one of the five female hostages during their capture by Hamas at the Nahal Oz military base in southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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JERUSALEM - Israeli television aired previously withheld footage on May 22 of five pyjama-clad female army conscripts being seized by Hamas gunmen during the Oct 7 raid that triggered the Gaza war.
The captives’ families hoped the footage would increase pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a truce with Hamas and secure the hostages’ release.
The government saw the release of the subtitled three-minute clip to national and international media as an opportunity to shore up support.
“These girls are still in the captivity of Hamas. Please don’t look away,” government spokesman David Mencer told reporters. “Watch the film. Support Israel in bringing our people home.”
The footage shows the young women, all of them stunned and some bloodied, being bound and bundled into a jeep.
“I have friends in Palestine,” one of the conscripts, 19-year-old Naama Levy, pleads in English.
One of the gunmen can be heard shouting back in Arabic: “You are dogs! We will step on you, dogs!”
Another gunman tells a captive: “You’re beautiful.”
The Hostages Families Forum, which represents relatives of the 124 people – mostly civilians – still held by Hamas, said the footage was recovered from body cameras worn by gunmen who attacked the Nahal Oz base in southern Israel where the women served as surveillance spotters.
A video screengrab showing female Israeli soldiers during their capture by Hamas militants at the Nahal Oz military base in southern Israel.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Shots of slain Israeli soldiers were excluded, and publication was approved by the families of the five captives, the forum said.
“The Israeli government must not waste another moment; it must return to the negotiating table today!” the forum said.
Israel says 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 abducted in the Oct 7 attack led by Hamas.
Israel responded by launching an offensive to eliminate the Islamist militant group in which the Gaza health authorities say more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed.
Israel’s military says 286 Israeli soldiers have also been killed.
A video screengrab showing the female hostages, who are Israeli soldiers, sitting on the ground with their hands bound during their capture by Hamas militants.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Mr Netanyahu’s government says continued military pressure will force Hamas to yield.
Families of the hostages fear their loved ones will not survive and that the women captives may be raped.
Hamas has denied allegations of sexual abuse by its men.
“Please, please do whatever you can to bring them home,” Mrs Orly Gilboa, whose daughter Daniela is a hostage, told Reuters. “They suffer there every minute, every second. And every minute is important.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the ambassadors of Ireland, Norway and Spain, whom it summoned to protest against their governments’ preparations to recognise a Palestinian state, would be shown the video in a special screening on May 24. REUTERS
Mrs Orly Gilboa, the mother of hostage Daniela Gilboa, holding her daughter’s picture during an interview at her home in Israel.
PHOTO: REUTERS
