Israelis have targeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli Defence Forces released a heartbreaking video showing six Israeli hostages lighting Hanukkah candles inside a Hamas tunnel, just weeks before their murder.
The hostages were identified as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lubanov, Almog Sarusi, and Carmel Gat, all of whom were killed inside the tunnel during the offensive. They were murdered later by the Hamas militants who were allegedly guarding them as IDF forces neared the site. The army believes the footage is from the hostages’ first and only Hanukkah in captivity, recorded in December two years earlier.
The footage showed the hostages celebrating their last holiday despite the presence of captors and signing through tears. One of them is hearing saying, “Hanukkah is emotional, isn’t it?”
The video is believed to have been shot by Hamas and was kept for reasons unknown. The video was later ended up with the IDF three months ago during a raid on the European Hospital in Khan Younis, where senior Hamas figure Mohammad Sinwar was also found and killed. The video portrays the reality of the conditions imposed by Hamas on the captives.
One of the relatives of the hostages hit out at the Prime Minister on X: “An entire country in front of the television, crying, hurting, angry. The Prime Minister claims his policy led to the return of all the kidnapped people (!!!!) Vile man. Stop and look. How, how, how!!!!! Do you dare to say that you returned all the kidnapped people?” he wrote.
