Families of Israeli hostages release video of female soldiers being captured by Hamas
CTV
A group representing the families of hostages held in Gaza has released new video footage showing Hamas' capture of five female Israeli soldiers near the Gaza border on Oct. 7.
A group representing the families of hostages held in Gaza has released new video footage showing Hamas' capture of five female Israeli soldiers near the Gaza border on Oct. 7.
The video shows several of the young soldiers bloody and wounded. In one scene, a militant tells one of the terrified women she is beautiful.
The footage was taken by Hamas militants who stormed the Nahal Oz military base, part of the militant group's wider assault on southern Israel that killed roughly 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage.
Seven female soldiers who worked as lookouts on the border with Gaza were taken captive from Nahal Oz, said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which released the footage. All were 19 or 20.
The army rescued one of the women early in the war in a ground operation 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 army recently declassified the video and turned it over to the women's families. The forum said the families made the footage public in an attempt to pressure the government into reaching a cease-fire deal with Hamas that would free their loved ones.
"Every new testimony about what happened to the hostages echoes the same tragic truth -- we must bring them all back home, now," the forum said in a statement. "The Israeli government must not waste another moment."
