‘Talk to Your Country, Tell Them We Are Here’: Hamas to Israeli Family Held Hostage on Facebook Live – News18

A chilling video of a family — father, mother, daughter, son and another member — being held hostage by the Hamas militant group has surfaced on social media, where their gun-wielding captors are telling them to talk to Israel. “Talk to your country. Tell them we are here,” a militant, who is recording the video, tells the father, who has been shot in the leg.

The incident took place in a kibbutz in Israel’s Nahal Oz, which is close to the Gaza border, and was livestreamed on Facebook by Hamas. In the video, the father is heard saying: “The Hamas group is here inside our house. I have been shot in the leg.”

The man points at his wife and their daughter and says he is here with them. The militants also ask him about the people in family photographs who are not present in the house. The man gestures that they are away: “Haifa”, indicating that they live in the Israeli port city.

In the video, Hamas fighters also use the son to persuade people in the neighbourhood to get out of their homes. The content of the video could not be verified and there is no information on where the family is placed at present.

After Hamas launched a surprise military incursion into Israel on October 7, many such videos have surfaced on social media. Only a few days ago, the video of a family had gone viral, where it was established that the 18-year-old daughter of the couple had been executed in front of them and her younger siblings. There are also numerous other videos of militants either killing or taking women, children and senior citizens hostage.

Hamas has taken around 150 hostages, Israel said. They include at least 14 Thais, two Mexicans and an unknown number of Americans and Germans.