Hamas Issues Video Showing Israeli-American Hostage Goldberg-Polin

 Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants hold a portrait of US-Israeli Hersh Golgberg-Polin during a demonstration calling for the release of those taken near the residence of the Israeli prime minister in Jerusalem on April 20, 2024. (AFP)
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants hold a portrait of US-Israeli Hersh Golgberg-Polin during a demonstration calling for the release of those taken near the residence of the Israeli prime minister in Jerusalem on April 20, 2024. (AFP)
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Hamas Issues Video Showing Israeli-American Hostage Goldberg-Polin

 Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants hold a portrait of US-Israeli Hersh Golgberg-Polin during a demonstration calling for the release of those taken near the residence of the Israeli prime minister in Jerusalem on April 20, 2024. (AFP)
Relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants hold a portrait of US-Israeli Hersh Golgberg-Polin during a demonstration calling for the release of those taken near the residence of the Israeli prime minister in Jerusalem on April 20, 2024. (AFP)

The Palestinian movement Hamas released a video on Wednesday apparently showing Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an Israeli-American seized during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and taken hostage into Gaza, alive.

The short video, which is undated, showed the 23-year-old missing his lower arm, which was blown off during the Hamas-led attack in October, but otherwise apparently healthy.

His mother Rachel Goldberg-Polin has been campaigning actively for the release of her son, who was abducted at the Nova music festival that was attacked by Hamas gunmen early on Oct. 7 and is one of 133 Israeli hostages still in captivity after more than 100 were released last year.

Around 250 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage by the gunmen, who killed some 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, in the deadliest attack in Israel's history.

In response, Israel launched an assault on Gaza, pledging to destroy Hamas and bring the hostages home. The assault has so far killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza health authorities.



Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio and prevent the spread of the virus began on Saturday, Gaza's Health Ministry said, as Palestinians in both the Hamas-governed enclave and the occupied West Bank reeled from Israel's ongoing military offensives.

Children in Gaza began receiving vaccines, the health ministry told a news conference, a day before the large-scale vaccine rollout and planned pause in fighting agreed to by Israel and the UN World Health Organization. The WHO confirmed the larger campaign would begin Sunday.

“There must be a ceasefire so that the teams can reach everyone targeted by this campaign,” said Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Rish, deputy health minister, describing scenes of sewage running through crowded tent camps in Gaza.

Associated Press journalists saw about 10 infants receiving vaccine doses at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

Israel is expected to pause some operations in Gaza on Sunday to allow health workers to administer vaccines to some 650,000 Palestinian children. Officials said the pause would last at least nine hours and is unrelated to ongoing cease-fire negotiations.

“We will vaccinate up to 10-year-olds and God willing we will be fine,” said Dr. Bassam Abu Ahmed, general coordinator of public health programs at Al-Quds University.

The vaccination campaign comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month. Doctors concluded a 10-month-old had been partially paralyzed by a mutated strain of the virus after not being vaccinated due to fighting.

Healthcare workers in Gaza have been warning of the potential for a polio outbreak for months. The humanitarian crisis has deepened during the war that broke out after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants.

Hours earlier, the Health Ministry said hospitals received 89 dead on Saturday, including 26 who died in an overnight Israeli bombardment, and 205 wounded — one of the highest daily tallies in months.