JERUSALEM: The sister of a Nepali man held hostage in Gaza mentioned Wednesday (Oct 8) she nonetheless hoped he was alive, because the household launched a video displaying him in captivity almost two years in the past.
The brief clip of Bipin Joshi, recovered by the Israeli navy, reveals him introducing himself in English and is believed to have been filmed in November 2023.
It’s the solely signal of life acquired since October 7, 2023, when he was kidnapped from a kibbutz in southern Israel throughout Hamas’s assault that triggered the Gaza conflict.
The video’s launch comes because the Islamist motion and Israel maintain oblique talks aimed toward ending the battle and securing the discharge of remaining hostages.
Joshi’s teenage sister Pushpa mentioned the household first noticed the footage a few yr in the past and hoped its publication now would “create slightly little bit of strain on (the negotiators), that they’ll have the ability to perceive our emotions, our ache”.
“It is an excessive amount of for me, my household, and for different hostages’ households and different hostages who’re nonetheless in Gaza,” she advised journalists on a video name.
Joshi, an agriculture scholar who was 22 when kidnapped, had arrived in Israel to work on a farm in kibbutz Alumim simply weeks earlier than the Hamas assault.
Pushpa mentioned her household “thanked God that we did not see any damage on his face and over his physique” after they first seen the video.
“Whereas seeing that video, my entire physique was shaking, and I (could not) management my tears,” she mentioned.
NO FURTHER SIGNS OF LIFE
The household has acquired no additional signal of life from him, however Pushpa mentioned they proceed to hope.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t point out Joshi when he learn out on the UN in September the names of 20 hostages nonetheless believed alive.
The Israeli military has not mentioned whether or not Joshi is among the many hostages nonetheless alive.
“It is my humble request to each group who’re within the negotiation desk proper now, please do not return… attempt to perceive the ache of the hostages and the hostages’ households and take good motion for his or her secure launch,” Pushpa mentioned.
The 18-year-old, who’s at the moment in the US to marketing campaign for her brother, mentioned she hoped to fulfill President Donald Trump and thanked his efforts to push for a ceasefire.
“Your motion offers us hope, and we completely depend upon you, and we’re ready for excellent news,” she mentioned.
Each warring sides have responded positively to Trump’s 20-point plan, which requires a ceasefire, the discharge of all of the hostages held in Gaza, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
Throughout Hamas’s October 2023 assault, militants took 251 hostages into Gaza, of whom 47 stay captive, together with 25 the Israeli navy says are lifeless.
