Hostages Families of five women release video of kidnaps in call for deal

An Israeli group representing the families of hostages held in Gaza has released footage showing the capture of five female soldiers from a military base during the 7 October Hamas attacks.

- Lorenzo Tondo

The three-minute video shows the women sitting on the ground, some bruised and bloodied with their hands tied, after their capture from the Nahal Oz base in southern Israel.

The footage, taken from a two-hour video filmed on body cameras by Hamas militants during the attack, was previously released by Hamas. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum obtained it months ago from the Israel Defense Forces, which had previously edited it to exclude the most disturbing scenes.

The forum said the families made the footage public in an attempt to pressure the government into reaching a ceasefire deal with Hamas that would free their loved ones.

"The footage reveals the violent, humiliating, and traumatising treatment the girls endured on the day of their abduction, their eyes filled with raw terror," the group said in statement. "Every new testimony about what happened to the hostages echoes the same tragic truth - we must bring them all back home, now. The Israeli government must not waste another moment."

Seven female soldiers who worked as lookouts on the border with Gaza were taken captive from Nahal Oz. All were aged 19 or 20. The army rescued one of the women early in the war in a ground operation and said a second was killed in Hamas captivity. The five women in the video are believed to still be held by Hamas.