He first appeared in a video released by Hamas identifying himself as one of the hostages still held by the pro-Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip. Then, a few hours later, his name appeared in a press release issued by the Qassam Brigades, where the armed wing of Hamas announced his death. The protagonist of the story is Nadav Popplewell, apparently killed in an Israeli airstrike over a month ago. Poplewell, 51, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nirim and taken to Gaza with his mother Channa Peri, who was released in November. His brother Roy was killed in the October 7 attacks.
Hamas’ announcement
It all started with Hamas’s decision to publish a propaganda videos to show an Israeli hostage in the Gaza Strip. Popplewell himself appears in the 10-second clip, with a black eye but no other visible injuries. He is seen speaking, while underneath scrolls a text in Arabic and Hebrew which reads: “Time is running out. Your government is lying“. The video, published on the group’s Telegram channel, is the third of this kind put online in less than a month by the pro-Palestinian group, which also made it known that it will soon publish new information or videos.
Popplewell, who also has British nationality, was seized as mentioned October 7 in the Hamas attack in which his brother was killed. Popplewell is diabetic and his sister, in an interview with Daily Mail in November, she said she was worried about hers health conditions during captivity. The 52-year-old’s mother was released on November 24 following the temporary ceasefire and hostage release agreement. For Popplewell, however, there would be nothing left to do.
A race against time
As reported by al-Jazeera, the Qassam Brigades said in a statement that Popplewell died from wounds sustained in an Israeli air raid that occurred more than a month ago. The video that was released a few hours ago was just about ten seconds long: Popplewell declared his identity and then the image of his face, with a black eye, gave way to a large Question mark.
Hamas has previously released similar videos of hostages, in what Israel calls a deplorable incident psychological warfare. Last April 27, the group published a clip showing two live hostages: Keith Siegel And Omri Miran. Three days earlier, another video showing Hersh Goldberg-Polin. According to Israeli officials, 128 hostages were held in Palestinian territory, including 36 deaths.
THE negotiationsMeanwhile, they continue slowly. However, some Israeli officials have reported that talks on the truce between Israel and Hamas and on the release of the hostages have not failed and that efforts to sign an agreement continue along with military operations in the Gaza Strip. Tel Aviv sources added that indirect talks will resume”if there are answers from Hamas that we can work on“. Meanwhile, time continues to flow.
And the lives of the hostages are increasingly hanging by a thread.
