The families of the Israeli soldiers taken hostage on Oct. 7 released disturbing video Wednesday of five female soldiers being captured by Hamas militants who call them “dogs” and threaten to shoot them. The young women are seen in the opening frames with their hands bound behind them and some of their faces bloodied while they are being shoved against a wall by the gunmen who took over a shelter on the Nahal Oz base.
“You dogs, we will step on you, you dogs” one of the gunmen yells at the captives in Arabic, according to an NBC News translation. “Take, take pictures of them,” another gunman yells, also in Arabic. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, established by the families of people kidnapped as part of the Hamas attack last year, described the 3-minute, 10-second clip as a “damning testament to the nation’s failure to bring home the hostages, who have been forsaken for 229 days.
” The group, which has been pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to call a truce with Hamas, identified the women in the video as Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa and Naama Levy. All are still believed to be in the hands of Hamas. Two others were abducted from Nahal Oz: Ori Megidish, who was rescued after 23 days in captivity, and Noa Marciano, who was killed in captivity.
In a statement after the video was released, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he would continue to offer the families of hostages “strength and love.
