American-Israeli hostage says Israel killed 70 captives in Gaza strikes

Palestinian resistance group Hamas has released a video showing an Israeli-American man who was among scores of soldiers and civilians captured by the fighters during their October 7 blitz on Israeli military installations and settlements.

Wednesday's video showing Hersh Goldberg-Polin ignited new protests in West Jerusalem calling on PM Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government to do more to secure the captives' release.

In the video, Goldberg-Polin accused Netanyahu government of abandoning the people who are being held in Gaza by Palestinian fighters. "Benjamin Netanyahu should be ashamed of himself."

He also claimed that some 70 captives have been killed in Israel's indiscriminate bombardment and invasion on the tiny Palestinian enclave since last year that has also killed at least 34,262 Palestinians — 70 percent of them babies, children and women — and wounded over 77,229 others.

Goldberg-Polin's claim could not be independently verified. It was not clear when the video was made.

Goldberg-Polin, 23, was at the Tribe of Nova music festival when Palestinian fighters emerged from nearby Gaza's fence with Israel and conducted hours-long raid which along with Israeli military's haphazard reaction resulted in the killings of more than 1,130 people, including hundreds of Israeli soldiers.

Palestinian fighters also took more than 250 hostages and presently 130 remain in Gaza, including 34 who the Israeli army says are dead, some of them killed in indiscriminate Israeli strikes. Most of the rest were freed in November in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. But Israel has since then abducted thousands of Palestinians.

Goldberg-Polin is one of the most recognised captives. Posters with his image are pinned up across Israel. His mother, Rachel Goldberg, has met with world leaders and addressed the United Nations.

Though there was no date on the video, Goldberg-Polin appeared to reference the weeklong Jewish holiday of Passover, which began on Monday.

His parents said they were relieved to see him alive but were concerned about his health and well-being, as well as that of the other hostages.

"We are here today with a plea to all of the leaders of the parties who have been negotiating to date," said his father, Jon Polin, naming Egypt, Israel, Qatar, the United States and Hamas.

"Be brave, lean in, seize this moment and get a deal done to reunite all of us with our loved ones and end the suffering in this region," he said.

Hostages' families have accused Netanyahu of not doing enough to secure the release of their relatives.

After the video was made public, hundreds of Israelis gathered outside Netanyahu's official residence in West Jerusalem, calling on the far-right government to strike a deal to bring home hostages. Netanyahu has vowed to use military invasion to free hostages, a policy many experts say has already failed.

Many held posters of Goldberg-Polin, and some of the protesters set cardboard boxes on fire.

"We are afraid for his life, so we went to protest and call for the government to do whatever is possible to bring him and everybody else back, as soon as possible," said one of the marchers, Nimrod Madrer.

"Bring them back home," the crowd chanted.

At the nearby Great Synagogue, a large crowd jeered the country's extremist minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, chanting "shame" as he exited the building following a Passover gathering. One protester banged on Ben-Gvir's car and was pushed away by police as it drove off.

Khalil al Hayya, a senior Hamas official, said Goldberg-Polin's family had asked mediators to inquire about his fate for humanitarian reasons.

His family was "searching the world for any sign of him," al Hayya said in an interview with Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV broadcast on Wednesday.

Hamas' armed wing "sent a strong message by publishing this young man’s message directed at Netanyahu," al Hayya said.

The US, Qatar and Egypt have spent months trying to broker another ceasefire and hostage release, but the talks appear to have stalled. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining hostages unless Israel ends its brutal war.

Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, starving. The Israeli war has pushed 85 percent of Gaza's 2.4 million population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered Tel Aviv to do more to prevent starvation crisis in Gaza. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said recently there were reasonable grounds to believe Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Netanyahu has rejected Hamas' demands, and says Israel remains committed to destroying Hamas and bringing all the hostages home. He has come under mounting criticism in Israel, where some say it will be impossible to do both.

___

Source: TRT