A hostage video released Wednesday by the military wing of Hamas appears to show a statement by an American-Israeli man who was kidnapped on Oct. 7, marking the first time the militant group has released a video showing one of the five Americans it is holding captive.
The video is also the first time that Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 24, has been seen alive since the day of the Hamas-led attack on Israel, during which some 1,200 people were killed.
In the video, Goldberg-Polin is seen sitting in a chair against a blank wall. He looks straight into the camera. Clearly visible is the healed stump of what was once his left forearm, amputated just below the elbow.
"I went out to hang out with my friends," he says in the video, which has been edited. "Instead, I found myself fighting for my life with severe injuries all over my body after I tried to protect myself and other frightened citizens with my body, because there was no one to protect us that day."