Brian McDonald
Tel Aviv — Thousands of Israelis took to the streets again Wednesday night with a clear message for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government: Free the hostages.
The demonstrations were triggered by the release of a graphic video showing five female soldiers held captive by Hamas. It was filmed by Hamas militants themselves, some of whom wore body cameras during their October 7 terrorist attack in Israelwhen the five women were captured at an Israeli military base.
The families of the captive soldiers decided to release the video to the public, fearing that the plight of the remaining approximately 100 hostages still thought to be alive in Gaza is disappearing from global attention. Due to the nature of the video, CBS News chose to use only still images.
“I want the world to know that she is more than a poster,” Sasha Ariev, whose 19-year-old sister Karina is among the hostages seen in the video, told CBS News. “Some girls, in pajamas, covered in blood, terrified. You can’t even imagine.”
Forum/Brochure on Families of Hostages
The video is distressing. It shows the women, some of whom appear injured and bloody, sitting on the floor of a room as their Hamas captors move around them. At one point, a militant is heard referring to one of the captive women as attractive.
The clip was part of a collection of propaganda videos previously released by Hamas. According to the hostages’ families, the Israeli military gave them an edited version, after removing what they described as the most disturbing scenes.
Ariev said his family wanted the images to circulate, “because people are forgetting. We have a feeling it’s becoming normal…hostages being held captive for so long.”
Netanyahu and his government’s anger is only heightened by their inability to secure the release of the hostages 230 days after they were captured.
Many Israelis accuse Netanyahu of deliberately trying to block a deal negotiated with Hamas to prolong the war in Gaza for his own political gain.
Forum/Brochure on Families of Hostages
Ariev didn’t criticize anyone by name, but said people were playing “politics behind the backs of our families – behind the backs of the hostages, and that’s another reason why we published the video… so that people understand that they are talking about life, people who are still alive and must return home as quickly as possible.”
Asked whether she thought the government was doing enough to bring her sister and the other captives home, she said that “every day that she’s not home makes it harder for me not to be disillusioned.”
But she said that losing hope was not an option, as if she had stopped believing: “I’m not getting out of bed tomorrow morning.”
Imtiaz Tyab
