'Stay strong,' parents tell Gaza hostage after video
By David Gritten
The parents of an Israeli-American hostage in Gaza have urged him to “stay strong” and “survive” after Hamas released a proof-of-life video.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, is seen without his lower left arm in the short clip. It was blown off during Hamas’s 7 October attack on southern Israel.
The footage is undated, but he says he has been held for almost 200 days.
In response, his mother and father appealed for more to be done to secure a new hostage release deal.
They urged Israel, Hamas and mediators the US, Egypt and Qatar to “get a deal done” to reunite “all of us with our loved ones and end the suffering in this region”.
Speaking under duress in the video posted on Hamas’s Telegram account on Wednesday, Mr Goldberg-Polin said he needed medical help and was critical of the Israeli government’s attempts to negotiate the hostages’ return.
Weeks of indirect negotiations have failed to produce an agreement, with Hamas rejecting the latest proposal for a six-week ceasefire in exchange for the release of 40 of the remaining 133 hostages. At least 30 hostages are presumed dead.
Israel appears to be moving ahead with plans for an offensive in Rafah, southern Gaza, despite warnings of the potentially catastrophic humanitarian consequences for the 1.5 million displaced Palestinians sheltering there.
