RSS
Graphic New Hamas Video Shows Abduction of Three Hostages Into Gaza
Disturbing footage of Hamas terrorists abducting three Israeli hostages from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, including Eliya Cohen (pictured). Photo: Screenshot
Disturbing footage of Hamas terrorists abducting three Israeli hostages from the Nova music festival, including dual US citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was released for the first time on Monday evening.
The two-minute bodycam footage shows Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Or Levy, and Eliya Cohen bloodied but alive in the back of a pickup truck while being taken to Gaza, the Hamas-ruled enclave from which the Palestinian terrorist group launched its Oct. 7 invasion of and brutal rampage across southern Israel.
The families of the three made the decision to release the footage to highlight the “neglect” of the Israeli government in failing to secure their return 262 days after their abduction.
“Hersh, Eliya, and Or were kidnapped alive and so they have to return, today. Every day that passes endangers the abductees and may torpedo the ability to bring them home,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
WARNING: Viewer discretion advised. Some readers may find the following footage, which includes graphic content, disturbing and upsetting.
The families of Hersh Goldberg-Polin (23), Or Levy (33), and Eliya Cohen (26) have authorized the release of new footage showing their loved ones’ abduction. The three were kidnapped from a field shelter after fleeing the NOVA Festival in Re’im. They remain in Hamas captivity.… pic.twitter.com/ZyWs07YNTi
— Bring Them Home Now (@bringhomenow) June 24, 2024
Goldberg-Polin, Cohen, and Levy were all in the same roadside bomb shelter when Hamas terrorists lobbed grenades inside.
Goldberg-Polin, who sought shelter with his friend Aner Shapira, had his arm blown off below the elbow. The video shows the 23-year-old American-Israeli clutching his arm with bone protruding out of it bound by a makeshift tourniquet.
Shapira caught seven of the grenades thrown inside the bomb shelter and managed to throw them back outside at the terrorists. The eighth grenade killed him.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the new footage, saying it “breaks all of our hearts, and once again underlines the cruelty of the enemy that we have vowed to eliminate.”
“We will not stop the war until we bring all of our 120 loved ones home,” Netanyahu said, referring to the hostages still in Gaza. Over 250 people were initially kidnapped during the Oct. 7 massacre in which 1,200 people were killed. More than 100 hostages were released as part of a temporary truce in November, and Israeli forces have rescued others, both living and deceased, as part of their ongoing operations in Gaza.
Or Levy, 33, and his wife Einav attended the music festival, arriving in the early morning shortly before terrorists overran the area. The couple took refuge in the same shelter as Goldberg-Polin and Shapira. Einav was killed and Or was taken hostage. They left an only child, Almog, who will turn three years old on Tuesday.
Eliya Cohen arrived at the festival with his girlfriend Ziv Abud, her nephew, and the nephew’s girlfriend. When the attack began, the four sought refuge in the shelter. Abud’s nephew and his girlfriend were murdered. Cohen was kidnapped from the shelter, while Ziv survived by being buried under the bodies for six hours.
On April 24, Hamas released a propaganda video showing Goldberg-Polin for the first time since his capture. The footage revealed he was missing his right lower arm.
In the undated three-minute video, Goldberg-Polin mentioned being held captive for “nearly 200 days,” suggesting a recent filming date. His mother, Rachel Goldberg-Polin, cited Israeli video experts as concluding that the footage was very recent.
Hamas murdered more than 360 people at the Nova festival and kidnapped a further 40. They also maimed and sexually assaulted both men and women at the scene.
Also on Monday evening, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed that hostage Sergeant Major Mohammed Alatrash, a tracker in the Gaza Division, was killed while battling Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, new findings have shown. Alatrash’s body was taken into Gaza. He was survived by two wives and thirteen children, the youngest of whom was born a month before his murder.
The post Graphic New Hamas Video Shows Abduction of Three Hostages Into Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
The post Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
The post Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
The post Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages first appeared on Algemeiner.com.