“Please send me home”… Hamas releases video of hostage with severed left hand

Hamas released video of an American-Israeli hostage with his left hand amputated. This hostage video comes as Israel is preparing to attack Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, which is considered Hamas’ last bastion, and some analysts are raising the question that Hamas may have been aiming to create public opinion in support of negotiations both inside and outside of Israel.

On the 24th (local time), Hamas released a video about 3 minutes long featuring American-Israeli Hershey Goldberg-Paulin through its Telegram channel. His left hand had been amputated.

Goldberg-Paulin was captured by Hamas militants near a kibbutz (collective farm) in Laim, southern Israel, where the Supernova music festival was held in the early morning of October 7 last year and taken to the Gaza Strip. Goldberg-Paulin’s left hand is believed to have been severed in a Hamas grenade attack.

In the video, Goldberg-Paulin mentioned her identity, date of birth, and parents’ names, and then pleaded, “Please let me go home.”

He also criticized the Israeli authorities for rejecting the ceasefire proposal. Goldberg-Polin said, “No one helped them when they were kidnapped,” and added, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government should be ashamed of neglecting the hostage-taking by Hamas and failing to rescue them for 200 days.” “70 hostages lost their lives due to the Israeli military’s airstrike,” he said, adding, “Please think about us who have been detained for a long time without receiving treatment in an underground hell without water, food, or sunlight.”

Goldberg-Paulin often held up her injured arm as she spoke. His hair was cut short, and the video was edited into several cuts, from wide shots to close-ups.

The date of filming is not recorded in the video, but it is believed to have been filmed recently, given that he described being detained for nearly 200 days. Today is the 201st day since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out.

After the video was released, the hostage families also raised their voices of criticism towards the Israeli authorities. “Hersey’s screams are the screams of every hostage,” Goldberg-Pauline’s parents said in a statement. “We cannot waste any more time. “The release of hostages must be the top priority,” he said. Turning to his son, he said, “If you can hear us, please know that we love you. He also said, “Cheer up.”

Hamas previously released videos containing hostages several times in the past, and Israeli authorities criticized this as sophisticated psychological warfare.

Analysis suggests that the reason Hamas released this video as the Rafah attack was approaching was to create public opinion inside and outside Israel that the hostages should be rescued first through negotiations. In fact, after the release of the video, hundreds of protesters demonstrated in front of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s home demanding negotiations to rescue the hostages. Protesters held signs reading “Hershey is alive now” and chanted, “It’s time to bring the hostages home.”