JERUSALEM (AP) — A group representing the families of hostages held in Gaza has released new video footage showing Hamas capturing five female Israeli soldiers near the Gaza border on Oct. 7.
The video shows several young soldiers, bloodied and wounded. In one scene, a militant tells one of the terrified women that she is beautiful.
The footage was captured by Hamas militants who stormed the Nahal Oz military base, part of the militant group’s broader attack on southern Israel, which killed around 1,200 people and took around 250 others hostage.
Seven female soldiers working as lookouts on the Gaza border were captured by Nahal Oz, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which released the images. They were all 19 or 20.
The military rescued one of the women during a ground operation early in the war and said a second was killed in Hamas captivity. The five women in the video are believed to still be held by Hamas.
The Israeli military recently released the video and turned it over to the women’s families. The forum said the families made the images public in an attempt to pressure the government to reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas that would free their loved ones.
“Each new testimony about what happened to the hostages reflects the same tragic truth – we must now bring them all home,” the forum said in a statement. “The Israeli government must not waste another moment.”
Israel has released similar photos and videos of the October 7 rampage in a campaign aimed at bolstering support for the ongoing war in Gaza.
The footage released on Wednesday lasts around three minutes and has been edited, with some footage blurred to censor what the forum says is particularly sensitive material.
It shows a group of more than a dozen armed militants tying up the soldiers, two of whom had visible bloodstains on their faces.
In the video, the women try to talk to the militants. One says in English: “I have friends in Palestine.”
One militant shouts back in English for them to be quiet. In other scenes, militants kneel to pray before at least four female soldiers, who are handcuffed and sitting on the ground. One shows visible cuts on her legs, and her blood spills onto the ground beneath her as a militant ties her hands behind her back.
At least one of the soldiers appears to be in her pajamas, with blood visible on her face. One of the militants points at her and says in English, “You are beautiful.”
In a statement, Hamas called the video “a manipulated fragment” whose authenticity “cannot be verified.” The militant group said the soldiers’ minor injuries and blood were “to be expected in such operations” but denied physically attacking the women.
The Israeli offensive on Gaza, launched in response to the Hamas attack, has killed about 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
Ashley Waxman Bakshi, a cousin of Agam Berger, one of the women in the video, said she cried when she first saw the video.
“Towards the end I felt like I was going to throw up. I think anyone who watches this video will understand that feeling, especially as a woman,” she said.
Other footage shows the militants dragging two of the female soldiers to a jeep as gunfire rattles. One is led to the vehicle barefoot, hopping on one foot due to an apparent leg injury.
In another scene, a group of militants hold a hostage by the hands and feet. It is not clear whether the hostage is alive or dead. Another scene shows three of the female soldiers in the back of a moving vehicle, their faces bloodied as militants shout around them. Berger, wearing a brown shirt, is one of them.
‘We know she’s alive. We can feel it. She has a twin sister, she feels her,” Bakshi said of her cousin. “She was held hostage and was not seriously injured. You can see that in the video.”
