Hamas has released another propaganda video featuring American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin HY’D, who was executed last week. The video was made public with the permission of his family. In a statement, the family said the video “must serve as an immediate wakeup call to the world to act today to secure the release of the remaining 101 hostages before it is too late.”

“No other family should endure what we went through,” the family added. They are still observing the seven-day Jewish mourning period, having buried Hersh on Monday after his body, along with those of five other murdered hostages, was recovered by the IDF on Saturday.

In the video, Goldberg-Polin speaks in English, a departure from a previous video released by Hamas in April, where he spoke in Hebrew. He introduces himself, noting that he was born in Berkeley, California, and now lives in Jerusalem. “I turned 23 four days before I was kidnapped at the party in the Re’im Forest on the seventh of October,” he says, referencing his abduction from the Nova music festival.

Goldberg-Polin describes his dire conditions in Gaza, saying he has survived with “almost no medical care, little food and little water.” He speaks of ongoing Israeli airstrikes and criticizes the Israeli government. He then issues a direct plea to U.S. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and all Americans: “Do everything you can to stop the war, stop this madness and to bring me home.”

The video concludes with a heartfelt message to his family: “Mama, Dada, Leebie, and Orly, I love you. I miss you, and I’m thinking about you every single day.” Echoing a phrase his mother, Rachel, has used in public speeches, Goldberg-Polin tells his family to “stay strong for me.” His final words in the clip are, “Keep on fighting, and hopefully, I believe I’ll be home soon. Don’t stop. I love you.”

Israeli authorities and human rights groups assert that hostages are coerced into making such videos, and most Israeli media outlets only publish them with family consent. The exact timing of when this video was filmed remains unclear, but the family’s hope is that it will prompt urgent global efforts to secure the release of the remaining hostages before more lives are lost.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)