By Dan Williams
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli television on Wednesday broadcast previously hidden images of five pajama-clad female conscripts captured by Hamas gunmen in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Gaza war.
The families of the prisoners hoped that the images would increase pressure on the prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude a ceasefire with Hamas and secure the release of the hostages.
The government saw the publication of the subtitled three-minute segment in national and international media as an opportunity to strengthen support.
“These girls are still in Hamas captivity. Please don’t look away,” government spokesman David Mencer told reporters. “Watch the film. Support Israel in bringing our people home.”
The footage shows the young women, all stunned and some bloodied, being tied up and bundled into a jeep.
“I have friends in Palestine,” one of the conscripts, 19-year-old Naama Levy, pleads in English.
You hear one of the gunmen shout back in Arabic: “You are dogs! We will step on you, dogs!”
Another gunman tells a prisoner, “You’re beautiful.”
The Hostages Families Forum, which represents relatives of the 124 people – mostly civilians – still held by Hamas, said the footage was collected from body cameras worn by gunmen who attacked the Nahal Oz base in southern Israel, where the women served as surveillance spotters.
Shots from slain Israeli soldiers were excluded and publication was approved by the families of the five prisoners, the forum said.
“The Israeli government must not waste another moment; it must return to the negotiating table today!” the Forum said.
Israel says the October 7 attack led by Hamas killed 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 250. Israel responded by launching an offensive to eliminate the Islamist militant group, killing more than 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities. The Israeli military says 286 Israeli soldiers have also been killed.
Netanyahu’s government says continued military pressure will force Hamas to give in. Hostage families fear that their loved ones will not survive and that the female prisoners will be raped. Hamas has denied allegations of sexual abuse by its men.
“So please do what you can to bring them home,” Orly Gilboa, whose daughter Daniela is being held hostage, told Reuters. “They suffer there every minute, every second. And every minute is important.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the ambassadors of Ireland, Norway and Spain, whom they have summoned to protest their governments’ preparations to recognize a Palestinian state, will be shown the video during a special screening on Thursday .
(Additional reporting by Michal Yaakov Itzhaki, editing by Timothy Heritage)
