The dad and mom of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli American who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7, mentioned Monday that newly released video of his abduction ought to function a “call of action” to do every part doable to free the remaining hostages.
“That’s our son,” Jon Polin informed NBC News’ Matt Bradley in Jerusalem. “I want all viewers of this video to think in that kind of personal way about what we’re dealing with here, and maybe that can be a call of action to get them motivated to fight [and] do everything we can to bring home these hostages.”
Jon Polin and his spouse, Rachel Goldberg, spoke to NBC News hours earlier than the Hostages and Missing Families Forum released a brand new video exhibiting their son’s abduction from the Supernova trance music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
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The graphic video recorded by Hamas and reviewed by NBC News journalists reveals Goldberg-Polin within the mattress of a pickup truck with half of one of his arms blown off. He is there alongside two different captives: Or Levy, 33, and Eliya Cohen, 26. The three males are bloody and seem dazed because the Hamas militants shout in Arabic and carry up their heads by their hair.
The discussion board mentioned it made the video public after the Israel Defense Forces approved its launch. “This harrowing footage stands as a damning testament to the 262-day-long abandonment of our loved ones,” the discussion board mentioned in an announcement. “Hersh, Eliya, and Or were taken alive, and they must return alive, today.”
“Every day that passes puts the hostages at greater risk and diminishes our chances of bringing them back safely,” the assertion goes on to say partially.
The authorities of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come underneath rising stress from the households of the hostages to prioritize the discharge of the remaining captives over destroying Hamas — the acknowledged goal of his army marketing campaign.
Over the weekend, Netanyahu appeared to again additional away from a cease-fire settlement with Hamas that’s supported by the Biden administration, saying that the “intensive” part of Israel’s struggle in Gaza would finish quickly and signaling that he would solely settle for a “partial” deal that might not finish the struggle.
Ophir Falk, one of Netanyahu’s aides, mentioned in an interview earlier this month that the Israeli chief had tentatively agreed to the Biden-backed framework however added that it was “not a good deal.”
The discussion board condemned Netanyahu’s assertion, saying it successfully “abandons 120 hostages and violates the state’s moral obligation to its citizens.”
Throughout the greater than eight-month struggle, the dad and mom of Goldberg-Polin and different households of hostages have repeatedly urged the Netanyahu authorities and the worldwide group to focus on the plight of their loved ones.
“I’ve lived in this parallel universe of anguish for 262 days,” mentioned Rachel Goldberg, one of probably the most vocal advocates for the hostages.
Jon Polin added: “These are real people — with dreams, with aspirations, with families waiting for them.”
Rachel Goldberg mentioned that her husband and daughter considered the newly released video Monday. “I chose not to see it,” she mentioned. “My daughter told me, ‘Don’t watch it.’ She said you’ll see them yanking Hersh by the hair to, like, smile together, almost like for a selfie. She said, ‘It will only hurt you. It’s not going to help you.’”
In a third video released by the army wing of Hamas in late April, Goldberg-Polin speaks on to the digicam in Hebrew and angrily asks the Israeli authorities to convey dwelling the hostages. The situations underneath which he spoke weren’t clear and the date of the video’s recording was not recognized.
It is likewise not clear whether or not he’s nonetheless alive. In the video, Goldberg-Polin’s left arm was severed beneath his elbow.
Goldberg-Polin was amongst greater than 200 individuals taken captive in the course of the Oct. 7 terror assault, in response to Israeli officers. Hamas militants killed greater than 1,200 amid the assault, in response to Israeli officers, resulting in the struggle within the Gaza Strip. More than 37,000 individuals have been killed since Israel began its army marketing campaign within the Gaza Strip, in response to the Palestinian enclave’s Health Ministry.