The Hamas terrorist organization released a “promo” on Saturday of a propaganda video with two Israelis who have been held in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023.
The family of hostage Maxim Herkin said it recognized his voice, marking the first sign of life from Herkin since he was abducted 547 days ago.
The family requested not to publish any footage or photos from the video that is expected to be released in full later on.
Bar Abraham Kupershtein, 23, was the second captive recognized in the video, which also marked the first sign of life from him since his abduction 18 months ago.
Instead of fleeing the festival, Bar—then a 21-year-old security guard—stayed behind to help the wounded, shuttling victims to safety four times before he was taken captive, his father said.
Both men were kidnapped from the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im during the Hamas-led onslaught on Oct. 7, as thousands of terrorists invaded the Jewish state and slaughtered roughly 1,200 people.
Herkin’s family said it was Maxim’s first trance festival.
Herkin, 36, a dual Israeli-Russian citizen, is from Tirat Carmel, south of Haifa, and has a 3-year-old daughter.
He is the son of a single mother and has an 11-year-old brother, and acts as the family’s father figure.
Maxim’s friends pleaded with him to attend the Supernova party near Gaza and agreed on the spur of the moment. His plan was to stay for a few hours only. After the first barrage of Gazan rockets he texted his mother that “Everything is alright, I’m making my way home slowly.”
A few minutes later he sent a message that read, “Mother, I love you.”
His family has not heard from him since.
This was not the first propaganda footage released by Hamas involving Israeli hostages.
On March 24, the terrorist group released video footage showing signs of life of hostages Elkana Bohbot and Yosef-Haim Ohana, 535 days after they were taken captive during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
Bohbot was previously last seen in video footage of the terrorist attacks, crumpled on the floor with his face bloodied and eyes wide with fear.
“Everything that concerns propaganda and that concerns using hostages as psychological warfare, Hamas has the upper hand,” United Torah Judaism lawmaker Moshe Roth told JNS on March 25. “It’s painful for the families and for everybody to see and hear the voices of hostages, but on the other hand at the end of the day, it also confirms the need for fighting.”
Fifty-nine hostages, living and dead, are still held in Gaza.
Tal Shoham, freed in February after more than a year of captivity in Gaza, told dozens of foreign ambassadors in Vienna on Friday about his ordeal in the hands of Hamas terrorists amid starvation and extreme thirst.
“There were days when we received only a single pita. We begged our captors, even offering them massages. We pleaded for every crumb and collected each one,” Shoham said in his speech at the United Nations offices in Vienna. Meanwhile, his captors “always had abundant food, including fresh vegetables and fruits.
“I am here because I believe that each and every one of you holds power—the power to expedite the return of my brothers and sisters still in Gaza,” he told the diplomats.
