British Israeli Nadav Popplewell was captured on October 7 in Kibbutz Nirim by the Palestinian group Hamas.
Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said British-Israeli captive Nadav Popplewell died from injuries sustained in an Israeli airstrike a month ago.
The group’s announcement Saturday came just hours after the Palestinian group released an 11-second video showing Popplewell with a bruised eye.
In the video republished on social media and cited by Israeli media, a man is seen wearing a white T-shirt and identifying himself as Nadav Popplewell, 51, from Kibbutz Nirim in southern Israel.
The superimposed text in Arabic and Hebrew reads: “Time is running out. Your government is lying.
Popplewell was captured in Nirim during the Hamas attack on October 7, according to the Israeli news site Ynet. His mother was also taken captive and then released during the exchange of captives and prisoners between Hamas and Israel last year. Popplewell’s brother was killed in the attack, Ynet reported.
The video posted Saturday on the Telegram channel of Hamas’ military wing is the third time in less than a month that the group has published images of captives held in Gaza.
On April 27, Hamas released a video showing two live captives – Keith Siegel and Omri Miran. Three days earlier, she also released another video showing captive Hersh Goldberg-Polin alive.
The videos come amid growing domestic pressure on the Israeli government to secure the release of remaining prisoners.
Reporting from Amman, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Stefanie Dekker said the tactic of posting videos of captives on a Saturday, while protests are taking place in Tel Aviv, is a way to put pressure on the Israeli government.
“This is what has been a trickle-down diet, if you will, from Hamas. Where, by releasing videos, sometimes showing dead hostages, they are trying to put pressure on the Israeli government,” she said.
“But it didn’t really change the (Israeli) government’s policy.”
On Saturday, the Israel Hostages and Missing Families Forum issued a statement calling on the Israeli government to reach an agreement with Hamas to secure the release of the captives.
“Every sign of life received from the hostages held by Hamas is another cry of distress to the Israeli government and its leaders,” the families’ group said in its statement.
“We don’t have a moment to lose!” You must strive to implement a deal that will bring them all back today.
Relatives of the captives also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not caring about those detained in Gaza and called on Netanyahu to resign.
“If we continue on this path, we will lose not only the hostages but also the country itself,” Naama Weinberg, cousin of one of the captives, said at a news conference in Tel Aviv on Saturday afternoon. .
“There is no victory and there cannot be victory without the return of the hostages.”
Despite immense pressure, Netanyahu and his government have so far failed to reach a deal with Hamas.
Some 1,139 people were killed on October 7 when Hamas and its allies attacked southern Israel, and 250 prisoners were also taken to the Gaza Strip. Israeli officials say 128 of them remain detained in the Palestinian territory, 36 of whom are dead.
Israel’s seven-month-old military campaign in Gaza has so far killed at least 34,971 people and injured 78,641 others.
