In the clip, which lasts nearly three minutes, Goldberg-Polin mentions the Jewish holiday of Passover, which began this week. It also refers to having spent “nearly 200 days” in captivity, which Israelis celebrated on Tuesday.
Goldberg-Polin, 23, was one of 253 people kidnapped by Hamas-led fighters during their brazen attack in October. In gruesome video of the kidnapping, activists are shown forcing Goldberg-Polin into the back of a vehicle at the Nova music festival, his left hand blown off by what appears to be a grenade.
On October 7 at 8:11 a.m., he sent two messages via WhatsApp to his mother. “I love you,” it reads first. The next one said, “I’m sorry.” »
The new video, which was posted on Hamas’ Telegram channel, is heavily edited at times and shows Goldberg-Polin with marks on his face. His left hand and part of his forearm are missing, and he makes what appears to be a written statement condemning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Still, the new footage was greeted with relief and urgency by Goldberg-Polin’s family and across Israel, as Netanyahu and his government face growing pressure to reach a deal that would free the hostages. According to Israeli authorities, 133 hostages remain in Gaza, including 36 confirmed dead.
“Seeing Hersh’s video today is heartbreaking,” his parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, said in a statement Wednesday. “We are relieved to see him alive, but we are also concerned for his health and well-being and that of all the other hostages and all those suffering in this area. »
Goldberg-Polin is one of five Americans still held hostage in Gaza. The others are Keith Siegel, 64; Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35 years old; Omer Neutra, 22 years old; and Edan Alexander, 20. Both Siegel and Dekel-Chen were kidnapped from the communities where they lived near the border. Neutra and Alexander were serving in the Israel Defense Forces on the day of the attack. The bodies of three other US citizens – Itay Chen, Judi Weinstein and Gad Haggai – are also in Gaza.
Shortly after the video was released on Wednesday, hundreds of protesters gathered near the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem, chanting “Bring them back now!” » and “Negotiate now!” Motorists honked their horns in solidarity with the crowd. A young girl held a sign with Goldberg-Polin’s face and the words “Bring Hersh Home.”
Since the start of the war, his poster has been plastered all over Jerusalem, where he grew up after his family left the United States to come to Israel.
Elisheva and Shoshana Baumgarten are sisters who live near the Goldberg-Polin family in Baka, south of Jerusalem, and they knew Hersh as children. They said they regularly attended protests to support the hostages and admire Rachel Goldberg, who led an international campaign for her release and spoke out in favor of protecting civilians in Gaza.
The sisters were relieved to learn he might still be alive, but Shoshana Baumgarten said she was also worried. In the past, Hamas has released videos of living hostages, only to later announce that they had been killed.
“We just can’t let him not come home,” said Elisheva Baumgarten, a history professor at Hebrew University.
As Goldberg-Polin grew up, he became a familiar face among Jerusalem’s small community of young progressives. At Sira Pub in West Jerusalem, staff and customers said Wednesday that it is a neighborhood staple.
Arielle Kangisser, 21, said he frequented the nearby cafe where she worked and that she often saw him in the back alleys of the bustling bars where the city’s most left-leaning young people congregate.
Seeing the new video on Wednesday was “mind-blowing,” she said. “I didn’t think he would survive with his hand, his injuries. It’s amazing that he’s alive.
Alon, 39, owner of the adjacent Café Sira, said he bonded with Goldberg-Polin through their shared love of trance music. Alon, who only gave his first name for privacy reasons, said Wednesday evening that he saw Goldberg-Polin the afternoon he left for the Nova music festival near the Gaza border.
Activists stormed the festival on October 7, turning the open-air concert into a bloodbath.
Alon said he “felt a little sick” when he saw the video. “Generally, I guess it’s good, but you don’t look at it and smile.”
In their statement, Goldberg-Polin’s parents – who previously described their pain as “almost exponential” – offered words of comfort to their son.
“Hersh, we heard your voice today for the first time in 201 days and if you can hear us, we are telling you, we love you, stay strong, survive,” they said.
Joanna Slater, Shira Rubin and Lior Soroka contributed to this report.
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