Hamas releases video footage of the group holding Israeli children

Footage has emerged which appears to show gunmen with Israeli children taken hostage by Hamas.

The video was posted on a Hamas telegram channel and captioned: “Hamas fighters, showing compassion for children in the midst of the Kibbutz ‘Holet’ battles on day one of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”.

Thirteen Israelis were murdered in Hamas’s attack in Kibbutz Holit. The children’s identities have yet to be confirmed.

The footage combines a series of clips some of which show gunmen with assault rifles holding the children and speaking to them.

In one clip a terrorist rocks a child back and forth in a stroller while the distressed tot can be heard crying.

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Another section of the footage shows a child smiling and holding onto a cup.

A man can be heard telling the child: “Say ‘bismillah’ (in the name of Allah)” to which the child replies “bismillah”.

The man then orders the child, “Yallah, drink”, before the youngster takes a sip from the cup.

Information about the hostages seized in Saturday’s attacks on Israel remains sketchy with no complete list yet released.

Many of those taken are Israelis, but a long list of other countries have said their citizens have also been taken hostage.

Hamas has traditionally treated hostages as valuable assets, revealing little to no information about their conditions or whereabouts.

The group usually refuses to grant the International Committee of the Red Cross access to check on their well-being.

Tel Aviv has historically made big concessions to win freedom for hostages, almost all of them over soldiers or their remains.

As Israel’s military strikes Gaza with unprecedented ferocity, it is not clear whether the safety of hostages is playing a role in decision-making.

Hamas has demanded freedom for all 5,200 prisoners the Palestinians say are held in Israeli jails in exchange for the captives.

It has warned it will kill a hostage every time Israel bombs civilian targets in Gaza without warning.

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