Hamas Releases Footage Of Six Slain Israeli Hostages, Promise To Share 'Last Messages'

Hamas has released a disturbing propaganda video featuring six hostages who were recently found dead in a Gaza tunnel. The footage, shared on Hamas’ Telegram account, shows the hostages identifying themselves in a black-and-white setting.

Each appeared gaunt, with Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American, missing part of his arm due to a grenade attack during the Re’im music festival massacre on October 7, according to Fox News. The video was captioned, “We Will Show Their Last Messages,” and was released just days after the hostages were discovered dead during an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operation in tunnels beneath Rafah, Gaza.

‘Last Messages’

The IDF suspects they were killed shortly before troops arrived, with spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stating, “According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them.”

‘Shot In the Head’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday that six hostages, whose bodies were recovered from Gaza, were shot ‘in the back of the head’. The Israeli PM expressed his shock at the brutal murders, stating, “He who murders abductees – does not want a deal.” He emphasised the sorrow felt across the nation, saying, “We are in a difficult day. The heart of the entire nation was torn.”

The killing of the six hostages, announced by Israel on Sunday, has triggered an outpouring of grief in Israel and large-scale protests as well as anger at the government for not sealing a hostage deal that would have secured the hostages’ release. Hamas’s armed wing said on Monday that hostages would return to Israel “inside coffins” if military pressure continued, warning that “new instructions” had been given to the militants guarding the captives if Israeli troops approached.

“(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu’s insistence on liberating the prisoners through military pressure instead of concluding a deal will mean that they will return to their families inside coffins,” Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement. “New instructions were issued to the mujahideen assigned to guard the prisoners regarding dealing with them if the occupation army approached their place of detention,” he said.

(With agency inputs)