Israeli hostage’s household hopes video is reminder of want for deal

The brother of Israeli hostage Naama Levy has stated the household’s choice to launch new harrowing video of the second his sister and different feminine hostages had been kidnapped is to remind the world and world leaders that they should push for a deal to safe their launch.

Nineteen-year-old Naama and 6 different younger ladies had been taken by Hamas gunmen from the Nahal Oz navy base on 7 October, the place they had been serving as observers monitoring surveillance cameras of the close by Gaza perimeter fence.

In a Hamas video beforehand seen all over the world when she was taken to Gaza, Naama was proven with blood across the crotch of her trousers, together with her arms tied and ankles reduce.

Now, the households of Naama and 4 of the opposite ladies have determined to launch additional video footage filmed by the physique cameras worn by the Hamas kidnappers. It exhibits the second they seized and tied up the youngsters, having killed others on the base.

Warning: This text comprises particulars some readers could discover disturbing.

Within the three minutes of video, the gunmen may be seen screaming on the ladies, some nonetheless of their pyjamas, most of whom have bloody faces. They’re tied up in opposition to a wall earlier than being bundled right into a jeep with apparent accidents.

The gunmen inform them in Arabic: “You dogs, we will step on you… we will shoot you all.”

One says in English: “You’re beautiful.”

Naama, her face lined in blood, says to them in English: “I have friends in Palestine.” She had beforehand been a part of an Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative. Her household have referred to as her “a peace seeker”.

Naama’s brother, Amit, is on a go to to London to marketing campaign for his sister’s launch.

He stated the oblique talks between Israel and Hamas to safe a Gaza ceasefire and hostage launch deal had been in “a very bad place”.

“We hope that this video will encourage all sides to get back to the table and understand that it’s an unbearable humanitarian issue that needs to be solved,” he advised the BBC. “This might be the last chance to save them.”

Amit stated that when he noticed the video launched on Thursday it was a “very hard watch… seeing my little sister with such a… such a look in her eyes”.

“I never imagined I would see her this frightened and hurt,” he added.

However he additionally stated he took power from the video.

“We feel like she’s handling the situation like the true superhero she is, like a hero fighting for her life.”

Of the seven feminine observers at Nahal Oz who had been kidnapped, one – Noa Marciano – was killed in Gaza. The Israeli navy stated troops discovered her physique in a constructing close to Gaza Metropolis’s al-Shifa hospital in November.

One other, Ori Megidish, was rescued by Israeli forces throughout an operation inside Gaza on the finish of October.

Youngsters Liri Albag, 18, Karina Ariev, 19, Daniela Gilboa, 19, and Agam Berger, 19, are nonetheless being held together with Naama. They’ve been hostages for 229 days.

After seeing the video of Naama with bloodied trousers when she was kidnapped, and listening to the testimonies of different hostages, her household are fearful in regards to the danger of sexual assault.

“It’s very, very hard for us. It’s a fear ever since 7 October that doesn’t leave me, doesn’t leave anyone in the family,” Amit stated.

“We realise that there is… there is a chance, maybe even a good chance, that Naama and other girls and men are being harassed. And it’s a fear that is painful in ways that are indescribable. We just have to keep fighting for her to get out of this hell.”

Naama’s mom, Ayelet, stated in an announcement: “We only see in that video a fraction of the horrible things that are going on in their surrounding in the shelter.

“She is terrified and wounded, there is fear in her eyes, and she is saying what she can, she is begging for her life.

“The top priority is to bring her home, bring them all home now.”

The Hostages and Lacking Households Discussion board stated: “The disturbing video has been the reality of Agam, Daniela, Liri, Naama, Karina, and 123 other hostages for 229 days.

“The video is a damning testament to the nation’s failure to bring home the hostages. The Israeli government must not waste even one more moment and it must return to the negotiating table today.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated he was “shocked” by the footage and promised to do every part to deliver the hostages residence.

“The brutality of the Hamas terrorists only strengthens my determination to fight with all my strength until the elimination of Hamas, to ensure that what we saw tonight will never happen again,” he wrote on X, previously Twitter.

In an announcement, Hamas stated the video footage had been “manipulated” and that it “cannot be verified”.