Newly released videos show six Israeli hostages celebrating Hanukkah in a tunnel in Gaza months before they were killed by Hamas in August 2024.
Two of the clips show the hostages gingerly lighting makeshift candles on a menorah made of disposable cups. The hostages – Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino, and Alex Lobanov – say the Jewish blessings before lighting the candles in what would have been early-December 2023.
In a video that appears to be from the second night of the holiday, Sarusi smiles at the camera and says, “Now it’s the holiday of Hanukkah. Happy holiday to us and to all the people of Israel. We should celebrate every year and be happy and joyous, and with the help of this holiday’s miracles, we’ll get home with a great miracle, and return to a normal and happy life, and be happy – all of us.”
The six hostages in the videos were killed as Israeli forces drew closer to their position, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which said at the time that they were “brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists, a short while before we reached them.”
The incident is widely considered one of the most painful moments of the war for Israelis and sparked fresh outrage at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for failing to secure a hostage deal. Three of the six hostages were expected to be released in the first phase of an eventual ceasefire agreement.
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