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HAMAS has released disturbing videos of two Israeli hostages before they were brutally murdered.
The terror group published videos of Alex Lobanov, 32, and Carmel Gat, 40, to a telegram channel.
AFP
Carmel Gat lost her mum in the October 7 attack. Carmel was on the hostages who was brutally murdered
AFPThey were among the six captives who were executed and discovered in a Gaza tunnel in Rafah by the Israeli Defence Force.
In the clip Carmel expressed concern for her family.
Carmel’s mum was killed on October 7 and her sister-in-law, who was taken captive, was later released in a November hostages deal.
Gat’s cousin, Gil Dickmann said in a statement, “It’s overwhelming to hear her voice.
“It’s heartbreaking to learn that she didn’t know her father, brother, and niece had survived, or that her sister-in-law Yarden had returned in the previous deal.”
The Sun has chosen not to publish any of the footage.
The six hostages whose bodies were recovered were identified as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi.
Hamas has previously issued similar videos of hostages it is holding, in what Israel says is psychological warfare.
The latest videos come days after Hamas released a video of Eden Yerushalmi and Ori Danino.
The heartbreaking clip shows Eden telling her family how much she loves and misses them.
An official government account wrote on X: “Hamas executed six Israeli hostages and is now sharing videos taken of the hostages before they were murdered.
“This is yet another form of Hamas’ psychological warfare.
“We will not further traumatise the Israeli families, who are living through their worst nightmares, by sharing these videos.”
Avi Mayer, former Editor of the Jerusalem Post, told The Sun: “Israel is a country that is very much gripped by a sense of collective grief over these six young hostages.
“But it’s also a country that is very much wrapped up in a sense of fury and anger.
“Over the fact that these hostages, perhaps could have been saved had a deal for their release been completed ahead of time.”
He added: “Discord in Israeli society is in many respects to the benefit of Hamas.
“Hamas loves seeing this country torn apart, and that was a situation that existed before October 7, and there are many who suggest that it was the discord and disunity in this country that encouraged Hamas to carry out the massacre.”
The six victims
The body of six hostages were recovered by the IDF in a tunnel along the Gaza strip.
Almog Sarusi, 27
Sarusi was described as a “vibrant, positive person who loved travelling around Israel in his white Jeep with his guitar”. He had been at the music festival with his girlfriend of five years, who was shot and killed during the attack.
Alexander Lobanov, 33
From the coastal city of Ashkelon, in southern Israel, Lobanov was married with two children, including a five-month-old baby born while he was in captivity. On October 7 he was at the Nova festival, working as a bar manager.
Carmel Gat, 40
From Tel Aviv, the occupational therapist was “full of compassion and love”, and enjoyed travel, rock concerts and the band Radiohead. She had been staying with her parents in kibbutz Be’eri on 7 October, one of the communities hardest hit by the attack.
Ori Danino, 25
Born in Jerusalem, Danino was the eldest of five siblings and had planned to study electrical engineering. He had been at the Nova festival on October 7.
Eden Yerushalmi, 24
Born in Tel Aviv, Yerushalmi loved spending summer days at the beach and was studying to become a pilates instructor, according to the Hostage Families Forum. She was working as a bartender at the Nova music festival.
Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23
Originally from California, Goldberg-Polin immigrated to Israel with his family as a young child. He was taken at gunpoint by Hamas militants while at the Nova music festival.
Hamas terrorists stormed the Israeli border in a brutal ambush last year, killing around 1,200 people.
Since then the IDF have waged war against the terror group in the Gaza Strip, with local Hamas-linked figures estimating the death toll at more than 40,000 Palestinians.
Out of some 251 Israelis kidnapped during the October 7 massacre last year, around 101 remain in the Strip with officials estimating a third are already dead.
The IDF have successfully rescued eight hostages.
The discovery of the six hostages sparked a wave of fury across Israel as some half a million people took to the streets and clashed with riot police.
Protests began around 7pm local time on Sunday, pushing for the government to end the war in the obliterated Gaza Strip and secure a deal to bring the hostages home.
Hordes of angry and grieving citizens marched with puppets of Netanyahu dressed as the grim reaper as police were dispatched to the scene.
They argue he has prioritised winning the war over securing a ceasefire-hostage deal like the one in November which saw 105 released.
Protesters in capital Jerusalem filled the streets and focused marches outside Netanyahu’s residence.
In Jerusalem cops unleashed skunk water, a harmful control weapon, at the crowds.
Around 29 were arrested nationwide, according to local media.
Photos showed some people being dragged away by riot cops as they forcefully removed hundreds of people from marches across the country.
Some 300,000 people took part in Tel Aviv, with a wider 500,000 across Israel.
The marches were organised by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum which said more protests would take place across the country today.
It said: “We call on the general public to vote with their feet and fight together with us to stop the abandonment and return our loved ones.”
The group blamed Netanyahu for the deaths of the hostages, claiming they were a “direct result of failing to sign a deal”.
The group said in a statement: “Over the past few months, eight hostages were rescued alive through military operations, compared to 105 hostages released in a deal last November.”
Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel would not rest until it catches those responsible for the killing of the six hostages.
In a statement, the PM said that Israel was committed to achieving a deal to release the hostages and that “Hamas refuses to conduct real negotiations.”
He added: “Whoever murders hostages – does not want a deal.”
It comes as Britain suspended around 30 arms export licenses to Israel.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he had no choice but to stop the shipments that could be used to “facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian laws”.
Reuters
Reuters
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