The terrorist organization Hamas released a video on Wednesday showing Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Reuters reported. In response, the boys’ parents made a video of their own.
The video was posted on Hamas’s official Telegram account, The Times of Israel reported. Goldberg-Polin, 23, was missing the bottom half of his left arm in the video.
The video featured Goldberg-Polin identifying himself and where he was born was not dated. He stated his injuries came from the Oct. 7 attack.
“I was arrested on October 7 at the Nova concert in Rei’m,” Goldberg-Polin said in the video. “Instead, I found myself struggling to survive with serious injuries all over my body. Nevertheless, I took it upon myself to protect myself and the people who were afraid around me because there was no one to protect us that day.”
The video also showed Goldberg-Polin condemning Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government. It is believed that Goldberg-Polin was speaking under duress, according to The Times of Israel.
“Benjamin Netanyahu and his government should be ashamed of yourselves because you neglected us along with thousands of other citizens,” Goldberg-Polin said. “You should be ashamed of yourselves for leaving us for two hundred days, and all the efforts of the army have failed because the Air Force bombings killed about 70 detainees like me.”
He also said that the hostages were “under the ground without water, without food, without sun, without the medical care that I have needed so much for a long, long time.”
A senior official from the United States familiar with the situation stated that the Biden administration received the video on Monday and had been “in touch with the family regarding it,” according to The Times of Israel. The official added that Goldberg-Polin’s video was being analyzed by the FBI.
In response, Reuters reported that Goldberg-Polin’s parents made a video message of their own.
“And Hersh, if you can hear this, we heard your voice today for the first time in 201 days, and if you can hear us, I am telling you, we are telling you, we love you, stay strong, survive,” his mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin said.
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“Seeing a video of Hersh today is overwhelming. We’re relieved to see him alive, but we’re also concerned about his health and well-being as well as that of all of the other hostages and all of those suffering in this region,” said Jonathan Polin, his father.
“We’re here today with a plea to all of the leaders of the parties who have been negotiating to date. That includes Qatar, Egypt, the United States, Hamas and Israel. Be brave, lean in, seize this moment and get a deal done,” Jonathan Polin said.
