STORY: Israeli television aired footage on Wednesday of five female army conscripts in their pajamas being seized by Hamas gunmen during the October 7 raid that triggered the Gaza war.
The captives’ families agreed to air the previously withheld clips, in hope of stepping up pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree a truce with Hamas and secure the hostages’ release.
Among the conscripts is 19-year-old Naama Levy, seen here with her face bloodied, speaking to her captors.
The gunmen order Levy and her group to sit against a wall, their hands bound.
Some of the clips show exchanges in English.
In one, a militant is heard calling the female captives “the cheap ones” in Arabic.
While another tells a captive she is beautiful.
The young women are later shown being bundled into jeeps and taken away.
“Very hard, emotionally…”
Levy’s brother Amit told Reuters the videos were tough to watch.
“But, also watching my little sister handles such an inhumane situation in such a way, she really looks like a superhero to me. And it also gives me and my whole family strength to see her this way, to see the other girls this way… But I know that her time is running out… A deal needs to happen soon.”
He and relatives of other hostages travelled to London, where they showed Britain’s deputy prime minister the video and lobbied for support to bring home their loved ones.
“It feels like more than ever things are getting a bit further away, the world forgets. Also maybe the Israeli government needs a reminder of what’s the most important thing right now.”
Levy is part of the Hostages Families Forum, which represents relatives of the 124 people – mostly civilians – believed to still be held by Hamas.
The group said the footage came from bodycams worn by gunmen who attacked the army base in southern Israel, where the women served as surveillance spotters.
In a statement, it said: “The Israeli government must not waste another moment; it must return to the negotiating table today!”
Within hours of its release, Netanyahu’s security cabinet convened and authorized an effort to renew the talks, according to an Israeli official.
The government also saw the release of the video as an opportunity to shore up support.
A spokesperson told reporters, “Watch the film. Support Israel in bringing our people home.”
Hamas called it a bid to manipulate public opinion, and said the female soldiers were treated “according to the ethics of [their] resistance”.
Israel’s foreign ministry said it would show the video to the ambassadors of Ireland, Norway and Spain.
The ministry had summoned them to protest their governments’ plans to recognize a Palestinian state.
Source Agencies
