New Delhi: Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, released a video on Saturday showing a man held hostage in Gaza by Palestinian operatives. The captive, identified by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group as Nadav Popplewell, is seen speaking in the 11-second clip, with text in Arabic and Hebrew overlaying the footage, reading: “Time is running out. Your government is lying.”
In the released video, the hostage who is a British national, and is seen speaking under duress, with a visible black eye but no other apparent injuries. Wearing a white T-shirt, Popplewell introduces himself as a 51-year-old from Kibbutz Nirim in southern Israel, reported AFP.
BREAKING: as the IDF continued to advance towards Rafah, Hamas released another hostage video, as they’ve done with each time Israeli forces got closer to the area, in an attempt to psychologically terrorize Israelis and stop the IDF.
The video shows Nadav Popplewell, 51, who… pic.twitter.com/qEVObgOZsk
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) May 11, 2024
Popplewell was kidnapped from his home during Hamas’s October 7 attack along with his mother, Hanna Peri, who was released during a one-week truce in November, the only pause so far in more than seven months of war.
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The release of the video featuring Nadav Popplewell, a British national held hostage in Gaza, marks the third instance in less than a month that Hamas’s armed wing has posted footage of captives held in the region. Popplewell’s older brother was killed in the attack, adding another layer of heartache to the family’s ordeal.
On April 27, Hamas released a video showing hostages Keith Siegel and Omri Miran alive, followed by another video three days earlier featuring hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. These releases coincide with mounting pressure on the Israeli government to secure the remaining hostages’ release, reported AFP.
“Every sign of life received from the hostages held by Hamas is another cry of distress to the Israeli government and its leaders,” the families’ group said in its statement on Saturday. “We don’t have a moment to spare! You must strive to implement a deal that will bring them all back today.”
Israeli PM Netanyahu’s Government Faces Pressure For Truce With Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government faces mounting pressure to broker a deal with Hamas, yet despite numerous rounds of indirect negotiations, no agreement has been reached between the two opposing factions.
The urgency to resolve the situation is heightened by the abduction of approximately 250 individuals to the Gaza Strip on October 7th, following an attack by Hamas operatives in southern Israel.
Israeli officials say 128 of them are still held captive in the Palestinian territory, including 36 who are dead. Following the attack, over 1,170 individuals, predominantly civilians, lost their lives, according to an AFP tally relying on official Israeli data.
In response, Israel launched a retaliatory military campaign in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of at least 34,971 people, with the majority being women and children, according to the health ministry of the Hamas-run territory.
