Israeli hostage's family hope kidnap video reminds world of need for deal

The brother of Israeli hostage Naama Levy has said the family’s decision to release new harrowing video of the moment his sister and other female hostages were kidnapped is to remind the world and world leaders that they need to push for a deal to secure their release. Nineteen-year-old Naama and six other young women were taken by Hamas gunmen from the Nahal Oz military base on 7 October, where they were serving as observers monitoring surveillance cameras of the nearby Gaza perimeter fence.

In a Hamas video previously seen around the world when she was taken to Gaza, Naama was shown with blood around the crotch of her trousers, with her hands tied and ankles cut. Now, the families of Naama and four of the other women have decided to release further video footage filmed by the body cameras worn by the Hamas kidnappers. It shows the moment they seized and tied up the teenagers, having killed others at the base.In the three minutes of video, the gunmen can be seen screaming at the women, some still in their pyjamas, most of whom have bloody faces. They are tied up against a wall before being bundled into a jeep with obvious injuries.

The gunmen tell them in Arabic: “You dogs, we will step on you... we will shoot you all.” One says in English: "You're beautiful." Naama, her face covered in blood, says to them in English: “I have friends in Palestine.” She had previously been part of an Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative. Her family have called her “a peace seeker”.Naama’s brother, Amit, is on a visit to London to campaign for his sister’s release. He said the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal were in “a very bad place”.

“We hope that this video will encourage all sides to get back to the table and understand that it’s an unbearable humanitarian issue that needs to be solved,” he told the BBC. “This might be the last chance to save them.” Amit said that when he saw the video released on Thursday it was a “very hard watch... seeing my little sister with such a... such a look in her eyes”. “I never imagined I would see her this frightened and hurt,” he added. But he also said he took strength from the video. “We feel like she's handling the situation like the true superhero she is, like a hero fighting for her life.”