‘Tell them we are here’: Hamas holds Israel family hostage on Facebook live

Amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas which has claimed over 2,200 lives on both sides, a video has surfaced on social media showing a family held hostage by the group. The video shows the family -- comprising father, mother, daughter, son and another member -- surrounded by gun-wielding Hamas terrorists. The terrorist recording the viral video then asks the father to talk to Israel. "Talk to your country. Tell them we are here," he said.

The family was held hostage in their house in a kibbutz in Israel's Nahal Oz, which is close to the Gaza border.

The incident was live streamed on Facebook by the terrorists.

Since Hamas levelled an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel on October 7, the militant group has taken hundreds of Israeli civilians and soldiers hostage. The group has left trails of bodies on the streets and several visuals of the group killing children, women and senior citizens under duress have surfaced on social media. Israel has intensified its attack on Hamas' locations in Gaza.

The father said," The Hamas Group is here inside our house. I have been shot in the leg.”

Pointing towards his wife and their daughter, he said, “We are here with the girls.”

Using pictures of the family, Hamas fighters also asked them about the members in the photographs who were not present in the house. Gesturing that they are away, the father says “Haifa”, indicating that those people live in Israel's Haifa city.

Further in the video, the Hamas fighters also use the couple's son to persuade people to get out of their homes in the neighbourhood.

On Saturday, Hamas carried out the biggest attack on Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, using boats, motor gliders and trucks to infiltrate the country. As Hamas militants went on killing civilians and taking Israeli soldiers hostage, Israeli Defense Forces launched a massive counter attack on the Gaza Strip.

According to a Twitter handle, the whereabouts of the family are unknown as of now.

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