Family demands explanations after horrifying livestream of an Israeli kidnapping

 Family demands explanations after horrifying livestream of an Israeli kidnapping

Videos from the 7 October assault by Hamas on residents in southern Israel show some of the victims being detained in their houses while the assailants themselves live-stream the incident.

Using these recordings to attempt to put together what happened to their loved ones, families of the victims who are still searching for answers more than a week after the assaults have voiced dissatisfaction with the Israeli authorities' lack of success in identifying their relatives.

One of them is Nir Darwish, a relative of a five-person family that vanished from the Nahal Oz kibbutz and now resides in the UK.

The family, which includes Noam Elyakim, his girlfriend Dikla Arava, her 17-year-old son Tomer, and Noam's two children Daphna and Ella, is shown being detained by the assailants inside their house. The daughters, who reside with their mother, were said to be traveling to see their father in honor of the kibbutz's 70th birthday.

However, on Monday of this week, the police informed Dikla and Tomer's extended family that they had been slain and that their remains had been discovered outside the kibbutz.

Ella and Daphna may be seen being held captive in various images issued by Hamas, according to Mr. Darwish. The BBC has not been able to confirm this independently.

Noam, who is shown in the live-streamed footage with a leg wound, was certified deceased on Tuesday, according to Mr. Darwish, who spoke to the BBC about the matter. His final image seems to show the assailants leading him along a sandy path.

Nir, an Elyakim relative, thinks the girls are in Gaza and are being held captive by Hamas in a tunnel.

"They are sitting [in the photos] on a mattress and then is no natural light, so that's 100% in Gaza," according to the BBC.

The assailants would have had time to return to Gaza between the live feed and the time the images were uploaded, the author continues.

Who are the Israeli prisoners captured by Hamas?

The footage of the girls, according to Mr. Darwish and other family members, was heartbreaking. He had a pretty negative outlook on what would transpire for them.

"Nobody wants to go through this as well as especially when it's two little girls and particularly when you know what's going to happen to them in their final days because they're not going to give him water and food and treat them nice," he continues.

He called the anticipated Israeli ground assault a "big mistake" and expressed the opinion that the captives would never be found.

The Israeli military claims to be using "all intelligence and operational measures" to secure the release of the prisoners, whose presence in Gaza's unidentified places would make any operation very difficult.

Maayan, the mother of the girls, tries to remain optimistic nonetheless. She talked to the BBC while at her Israeli home.

"Remain steadfast and watch out for one another. Watch out for your father; he will watch out for you and take care of you, she tells her daughters. "Everything we can is being done to get you back. Here, we are incredibly powerful. You will be returned by us.

She gave a description of the females, adding that they were best friends and that one liked to sing and the other to dance.

The BBC has seen portions of the militants' live broadcast from inside Noam and Dikla's home, but not the whole half-hour.

It looks to be a phone video of the family sitting on a bench in their house. On her screen, startled messages from her friends and relatives are being aired.

Noam seems to have a bad leg wound since he is bleeding heavily. He eventually limps away while being accompanied by one of the militants after being asked for his ID card at one point. His girlfriend and children are obviously scared.

The assailants take Tomer outside the home to knock on neighbors' doors in order to convince them that the threat has gone and they may leave. Nir Darwish discusses this scene with the BBC.

To "make life easier for the terrorists... to capture them, kill them, or whatever it is," in his opinion.

The home in the picture doesn't have anybody exiting it, but Nir claims that the assailants subsequently set the house on fire with blazing tires.

Although it is unclear whether anybody perished in this instance, it is probable that similar strategies were used elsewhere and had a role in the casualties.