A screengrab of an Israeli family held hostage, posted by journalist India Naftali
A shocking video has emerged from Israel in which a family is seen being held hostage reportedly by armed men of the Hamas group. One of the girls in the family was reportedly executed in front of her siblings, Israel-based journalist India Naftali posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Israel's embassy in the US this morning said 100 civilians have been taken hostage after the large-scale terror attack by Hamas yesterday.
In the video, a couple is seen sitting on the floor with their son and daughter, who appear to be minors.
"Why is there blood on your hands, papa?" the son asked and broke down.
"I wanted her to stay alive," the visibly traumatised girl said, apparently referring to her sister who was executed in front of them. "My sister is dead," she said.
"It didn't happen," her mother said, in shock amid the horrifying situation as an armed man walked in front of the camera.
The parents consoled their children and asked them to lie down on the floor as the Hamas men kept firing from their house.
A man then comes on camera, but the angle is from waist down and his face is not visible. There is, however, an assault gun slung on his shoulder as a magazine is clearly in the frame.
In the X post, Ms Naftali appealed to world leaders to "put a stop to this".
"Israeli family heartlessly paraded on camera by Hamas terrorists while being taken hostage. One daughter ruthlessly executed, leaving her siblings in traumatic disbelief. This is beyond a sick act of cruelty. The world must know and put a stop to this," Ms Naftali said.
A majority of the kidnappings and hostage-taking happened in the first hour of the surprise terror attack by the Hamas group, whose fighters infiltrated into Israel in large numbers via powered paragliders and bulldozers to raze border fences.
Many graphic visuals on social media show injured Israeli soldiers and civilians, with their hands tied, being taken by force in Hamas vehicles. In one video, Hamas group is seen kicking and hitting the corpse of a woman on the back of a truck.
The conflict's bloodiest escalation in decades saw Hamas carry out a massive rocket barrage and ground, air and sea offensive on Saturday.
Israeli TV stations carried telephone calls from terrified residents of towns and kibbutzes speaking even as gunmen were trying to break into their shelters on Saturday, news agency Reuters reported.