More than seven and half months after Hamas terrorist attack, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel released footage on Wednesday evening showing five terrified and wounded female soldiers taken captives by Hamas on 7 October.
The video was taken by body cameras worn by Hamas terrorists killed in Gaza and shows the probably only surviving hostages taken at an army base in Nahal Oz at the border with Gaza where unarmed female observers were located. Before the attack, they had alerted their superiors about worrying signs about preparations for an impending attack but the warnings were ignored.
The footage has been known to the families for two months but only now did they decide to show it on TV to arouse the public opinion in Israel and abroad and bring about a hostage-prisoner deal linked to a ceasefire before it is too late. “I want you to broadcast this footage every day at the start of the news,” said the father of one of them, “until somebody wakes up.”
When it was shown for the Israeli war cabinet a month ago, not all ministers had the stomach for watching it. The finance minister was reportedly saying that he does not want to watch the footage so that he can continue to sleep at night. For the families it has been a nightmare since about 8 o’clock in the morning on 7 October when they lost contact with their daughters.
The first reaction from the Israel government was not promising. Prime Minister Netanyahu first ignored the footage and issued a statement yesterday evening protesting against the recognition of a Palestinian state, which he described as a “reward for terrorism”. He continues to claim that “rewarding terrorism will not bring peace and neither will it stop us from defeating Hamas."
“The simple truth is that Netanyahu does not want a deal under the existing conditions,” a well-know military commentator, Amos Harel, wrote on Thursday. “Any further move to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages may cost him the dissolution of his government.” The most important of Hamas conditions is an end to the war which would assure its survival or at least free passage for its leaders to a country that is willing to receive them.
Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog, issued a more emphatic statement but stopped short of calling on the government to restart the hostage talks and bring home the hostages without any delay.
“Liri, Karina, Agam, Daniella, and Naama are all still in Hamas captivity and we are fighting to bring them home as well as all other hostages - 128 in total! The world must look at this cruel atrocity. All those who believe in freedom must speak out, and do everything possible to bring all of the hostages home now."
Some effect did the public release of the footage have. The Israeli war cabinet approved the resumption of indirect talks with Hamas for the release of the hostages and issued new guidelines to the negotiating team.
Asked for a comment, EU’s lead spokesperson for foreign affairs, Peter Stano, replied that the European External Action Service (EEAS) usually does not issue statements on footages shown on TV stations around the world.
However, regarding the issue of hostages, the position of the EU has not changed, he added. “We call on Hamas to release all hostages immediately and unconditionally and we support efforts especially by Egypt, Qatar and the US aimed at reaching a deal between Israel and Hamas about the release of hostages and about an immediate ceasefire.”
M. Apelblat
The Brussels Times
