“I wanted to spend time with my friends, but now I have to fight for my life with serious injuries all over my body,” the man says in the video. It appeared on Hamas’s official Telegram account.
One of those injuries is visible in the video, Goldberg-Polin is missing part of his arm. When he was captured by Hamas on October 7, he lost that piece to an explosion. In the video, the man is mainly critical of the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Possibly under duress
“But of course we must not forget that this video was recorded under duress,” says Middle East reporter Pepijn Nagtzaam. “This man has been in custody for six months. Of course, we do not know whether this is really something he thinks or whether he has been forced. It is also possible that sheets of paper are presented to him so that he knows what to say.”
“On the other hand, released hostages have said that they found the time they were held scary because there was bombardment all around them. And hostages have also been killed by Israeli bullets and bombs.”
In any case, criticism of Netanyahu’s government is increasing in his own country. For months, Israeli citizens have been taking to the streets against the government’s actions, mainly because many hostages are still being held after six months. Others are also demonstrating against Israeli violence in the Gaza Strip.
“The message that this man shares is therefore a message that suits Hamas well. It is of course to Hamas’s advantage that that message is becoming increasingly embedded in the minds of Israeli citizens. It is therefore difficult to say anything about the authenticity of his message.”
Hamas and other militant groups kidnapped an estimated 250 hostages on October 7 last year. At the end of last year, several dozen of them were released during a short ceasefire. It is estimated that there are still around 130 hostages in Gaza, of whom around a hundred are believed to be alive.
Tags: Hamas publishes video hostage Possibly duress RTL News
