Parents respond to Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s hostage video – ‘Stay strong, survive’

On Wednesday, Hamas posted a video indicating that Hersh Goldberg-Polin was still alive, although it can’t be confirmed when the video was recorded.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

After Hamas released a propaganda video of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, his parents publicized their own video urging all parties to agree to a hostage deal and a message to their son and other hostages: “Stay strong, survive.”

On Wednesday, Hamas posted a video indicating that Hersh Goldberg-Polin was still alive, although it can’t be confirmed when the video was recorded.

Since October 7th, Hamas has sent out a number of these videos, which many media outlets do not have access to or do not wish to publish to avoid participating in Hamas’s strategy of psychological warfare.

In the video, the 23-year-old hostage says he has been in captivity for 200 days.

He shows that he is missing part of his arm which was blown off while Hersh was hiding in a bomb shelter.

In the video, he sends love to his family and criticizes the Israeli government for the fact he is still in Gaza.

The response video features Hersh’s parents, Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin saying, “Seeing the video of Hersh today is overwhelming. We are relieved to see him alive but we are also concerned about his health and wellbeing as well as that of all the other hostages and all of those suffering in this region.”

They added, “We are here today with a plea to all of the leaders of the parties who have been negotiating to date. This includes Qatar, Egypt, the United States, Hamas and Israel: be brave, lean in, seize this moment and get a deal done to reunite all of us with our loved ones and end the suffering in this region.”

They concluded, “Hersh, we heard your voice today for the first time in 201 days and if you can hear us, we are telling you, we love you, stay strong, survive.”

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