A Hostage Family Gets Proof of Life – Tug of War – Podcast on CNN Audio

‘You may remember the name Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The then 23 year old Israeli-American was one of those taken by Hamas from the Nova music Festival on October 7th. When the terrorists arrived, he hid with others in a tiny concrete bomb shelter. That’s when militants tossed in grenades. A witness says Hirsh worked furiously to toss the grenades out, but part of his arm was blown off when they exploded. Gunmen then dragged him out and forced him into the bed of a pickup truck.

Other gunmen shout as they bring survivors from the shelter. Come, come, they yell. Load them…

This was all captured on video. Video his parents, Rachel and Jonathan, didn’t even know about until CNN’s Anderson Cooper discovered it on a reporting trip and showed it to them.

As horrible as it is as a parent, to see your kid under gunpoint, being pushed with one arm. The composure with which he’s walking on his own legs, pulling himself with his one week hand. He’s a lefty, and his left arm was blown off for himself with his one week hand onto the truck. Gave me a real dose of strength that he’s handling a horrible situation and he’s doing it with composure.

For more than six months, this was the last they had seen of their son Hersh, bleeding and dazed, loaded onto a truck like a piece of construction equipment.

Let’s turn to some breaking news just into CNN. Hamas has released a video of a hostage who was taken from Israel on October 7th.

This is the first time that they’ve actually been able to see that he survived the grievous injuries that he sustained on October 7th today.

What a Proof of Life video could mean for the 100 plus hostages still being held inside Gaza. From CNN, this is Tug of War. I’m David Rind.

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond is back with us today. He’s in Jerusalem. And so, Jeremy, can you describe this hostage video that Hamas released the other day?

‘So for more than 200 days, Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s family has not had any proof of life. And this is the first time that they’ve actually been able to see that he survived the grievous injuries that he sustained on October 7th. There was a video of him from that day with a severe wound to his left hand. And in this video, you see that part of his left arm is missing to just below the elbow. But he’s speaking for a couple of minutes during the video. Obviously, we assume that he is under duress given the fact that he is a hostage right by Hamas. And we know, of course, that Hamas has used these videos for propaganda purposes in the past. But at least for his family, this was an opportunity for them to see that he was able to speak to the camera, and they said that it was overwhelming to see their son in this way. They’re thrilled to see him alive, but they’re also, of course, very concerned for his well-being.

Yeah. And why are we seeing this now? Like, what do we think goes into the timing of releasing a video like this?

Well, we have watched As over the last couple of weeks, these negotiations have really, really stalled and backtracked in some ways. And so this is obviously a moment for Hamas to try and bring more pressure to bear on the Israeli government. We have seen them do this in the past at critical junctures in these negotiations. Israeli officials describe this as psychological warfare on the Israeli public, but there’s no question that it does lead to increased pressure on the Israeli government.

We saw overnight following the release of this video, a protest both in Tel Aviv as well as in Jerusalem.

People calling for the Israeli government to do everything it can to secure the release of Hirsh Goldberg, Poland and the other nearly 130 hostages who were taken captive on October 7th.

‘Yeah, there’s obviously so many still held in Gaza. But why? Hirsh. Specifically in this video? Because he is one of the more well-known names out there. So do we think Hamas is aware of the response the world seeing him might elicit?

Well, I think one of the key factors here has to be the fact that he is a dual Israeli American citizen. He is one of nine American hostages in Gaza. He is one of five who are still believed to be alive. And, you know, the United States, of course, has played a critical role in, in these negotiations throughout the process and has also been bringing more pressure to bear on, on Qatar, as well as as of late.

‘My name is Rachel and this is John. And we are the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American Israeli civilian who was kidnaped into Gaza 201 days ago.

Seeing a video of Hersh today is overwhelming.

You know, we heard from his his parents following the release of this video. They talked about how overwhelmed they were by seeing this, but they also had a message for the negotiators.

And we’re here today with a plea to all of the leaders of the parties who are being negotiated to date. That includes Qatar, Egypt, the United States, Hamas and Israel. Be brave. Lean in. Seize this moment and get a deal done to reunite all of us with our loved ones and end this suffering in this region.

Pleading with them to effectively seize this moment, to be brave, and to finally be able to reach a deal not only for their son’s release, but for the other hostages who are still held.

And Hirsch, if you can hear this. We heard your voice today for the first time in 201 days. And if you can hear us, I am telling you. We are telling you we love you. Stay strong. Survive.

Welcome back to Tug of War and my conversation with CNN’s Jeremy Diamond.

Can you catch us up on where these talks actually stand? Like, what are the hold ups here? Because I know I sound like a broken record. You and I have come on here many times just to kind of see these talks fall apart. So where do these stand right now?

‘Yeah. And how many times have we talked about. Oh, it looks like there’s there’s progress. There might be a breakthrough that’s kind of on the horizon. We have seen that moment happen so many times. And yet we’re once again in a place where there is really very little cause for optimism in these negotiations. They’re certainly not dead. But what we have seen over the last couple of weeks is that Israel and the mediators have issued several kind of framework proposals, with Israel actually increasing the number of Palestinian prisoners, it was willing to release, caving on certain demands in terms of allowing more Palestinians to move, to northern Gaza, during, this cease fire. And Hamas has really dug its heels in here and has refused to budge on its core demands, including totally unfettered access for Palestinians to return to northern Gaza, the withdrawal of all Israeli troops. And what they’ve also done, according to my sources, is they’ve actually pulled back on the number of hostages they’d be willing to release in a first phase of this deal. 40 hostages has been the basis of negotiations for months now. And now the latest counter-proposal from them was talking about fewer than 20 hostages. So these talks are not dead. They are still happening. There are still efforts to, see what other ways, these talks could be advanced, but they’re certainly not in a very good place right now.

Well, and you mentioned Qatar earlier. Can you explain, like, why some of the major players here are kind of upset with them because they, they have a relationship with Hamas that the others don’t, right.

Well, yeah. And there’s certainly a sense within Israel and increasingly in the United States that Qatar just isn’t doing enough, isn’t bringing all of the pressure that it could be bringing to bear on Hamas. Israeli officials who I’ve talked to have pointed to the fact that not only does, Hamas have offices in Doha, it’s where its political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, currently lives. But it’s also they also control some of the purse strings, in some sense, to Hamas that they have, financial leverage over Hamas as well. And Israeli officials have been increasingly arguing for Qatar to use that leverage, in these in these talks. And as of late, we’ve also seen the United States start to put more pressure on on Qatar as well, which prompted that statement from Qatar’s foreign minister, last week, effectively saying that they’re going to reconsider their role in these negotiations because it’s getting to a point where they are hearing calls from the United States to reevaluate the US Qatar relationship over, the standstill in these talks. And you have to remember that Qatar values that relationship with the United States. The U.S. has a military base in Qatar. So there is a lot at stake here for for Qatar if these talks don’t go well. And I think they’re starting to really feel that squeeze. And it’s getting very, very uncomfortable for them.

Yeah. I guess like for the U.S. and the Israelis, they’re like, you guys have this really close relationship with Hamas. But yet we’ve gone months and months without any progress whatsoever.

Yeah. And look, Qatar’s argument will be that, you know, we play a critical role here. We have that relationship. We were able to help secure that first hostage, release deal which saw dozens of hostages released. But they’re basically saying that they can’t force Hamas’s hand here. And so, from their perspective, they are doing everything they can. Israeli officials definitely disagree with that assessment. Some U.S. officials do as well. But then there’s the question of, you know, Egypt is also a key player here, and we actually see an Egypt kind of rising in terms of the role that it’s played in these negotiations, over the course of the last couple of months. But it’s hard to see whether Egypt can play the same kind of role that the Qatar played and whether it can play it alone. Should Qatar choose to step back from from these talks.

Tug of War is a production of CNN Audio. This episode was produced by Paola Ortiz and me, David Rind. Our senior producer is Haley Thomas. Dan Dzula is our technical director, and Steve Lickteig is the executive producer of CNN Audio. We get support from Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, John Dianora, Leni Steinhardt, Jamus Andrest, Nichole Pesaru and Lisa Namerow. Special thanks to Caroline Patterson, Seb Shukla and Katie Hinman. We’ll be back on Wednesday next week. I’ll talk to you then.