THE friends of two men believed to be held hostage by Hamas say they recognised them in harrowing video at a Gaza hospital.
Israel released shocking CCTV footage appearing to show terrorists dragging hostages into the Al-Shifa hospital after the brutal October 7 massacre.
The footage appears to show Hamas forcibly transporting a Nepalese and a Thai civilian, who were kidnapped from Israeli territory.
The pair has now been identified as Nepali student Bipin Joshi, 23, and his friend Pornsawan Pinagalo, a Thai national, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Bipin and Pinagalo worked together on Kibbutz Alumim, a citrus and dairy farm close to the Israel-Gaza border.
Bipin's colleagues, family and Nepalese officials told the Wall Street Journal they think he is one of the two hostages pictured on the hospital CCTV footage.
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Before he was snatched on October 7, Bipin had been seen earlier that day wearing a sky blue T-shirt, dark shorts and striped sandals.
In the hostage clip, a man with a blurred face appeared to be seen wearing the same outfit.
The second man, wearing only boxer shorts and wounded in the stomach, who appears wheeled on a gurney by gunmen and doctors, is Pornsawan Pinagalo, claimed Thai officials and nationals who survived the October 7 massacre.
“It’s him. I recognise the boxers,” said Pinagalo's friend Korawit Kaeokoed, who hid above a refrigerator when Hamas stormed their Kibbutz.
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The footage itself does not confirm whether either of the two men are alive.
But Nepal's foreign minister said in an interview that he had separate evidence that Bipin is being held hostage, in good condition, from sources that he didn’t identify, WSJ reported.
“The latest video that has surfaced and our own different sources have now confirmed that Bipin is in a hostage condition without any harm to his health,” said Narayan Prakash Saud.
IDF official spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said Sunday that the military didn’t know where Bipin and Pinagalo were.
Hamas terrorists brought the two men to Al-Shifa Hospital in Toyota vehicles from Israel, he added.
Israel’s ambassador to Nepal, Hanan Goder, told WSJ that the man in the CCTV was Bipin.
Israel on Wednesday approved a ceasefire deal with Hamas which would bring a four-day pause to fighting and free 50 hostages.
The first major diplomatic breakthrough comes after intense negotiations following weeks of an all-out war.
Under the deal, Hamas is to free 50 of the roughly 240 hostages it is holding in the Gaza Strip over a four-day period, the Israeli government said on Wednesday.
After weeks of negotiations through mediator Qatar, the Israeli Prime Minister's cabinet approved the truce today after a near-all-night meeting, in which he told ministers this was a "difficult decision but it's a right decision."
But Benjamin Netanyahu was adamant Israel's mission remains the same and vowed the offensive will continue once the ceasefire expires.
He said: "We are at war and we will continue the war until we achieve all our goals.
"To destroy Hamas, return all our hostages and ensure that no entity in Gaza can threaten Israel."
Under the agreement around 12 hostages are set to be released per day in phases – mostly of Israeli citizenship.
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