JERUSALEM, Israel – As Hanukkah approaches, a video of six murdered hostages was released, showing them celebrating the Festival of Lights in a tunnel in December 2023. And a new study shows a majority of the journalists and media workers killed during the war were tied to terror organizations.
The study by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, published Thursday, surveyed the media people who died in Gaza between October 7th, 2023, and November 30, 2025. The center found that around 60 percent, at least 157 of them, were either members of terror organizations or clearly connected to them. More than 100 were aligned with Hamas, while 57 were affiliated with Islamic Jihad.
Just a few days before Hanukkah, families of the Gaza hostages released a sad and haunting film of six captives, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
In the film, the captives are lighting Hanukkah candles and praying, singing, and celebrating the holiday in a tunnel in December 2023.
Hostage Almog Saursi says, “Happy holidays to us and all of the people of Israel, that we will celebrate every year, that we will be happy and blessed, and with the help of the miracles that came on this holiday, we will go home with a big miracle, that we will return to routine life, we’ll be happy and good, and we will all rejoice always! Amen.”
The others then answer, “Amen.”
Dubbed “the Beautiful Six,” their captors filmed them giving holiday greetings and playing cards.
The IDF reportedly recovered hours of footage of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Almog Sarusi, Ori Danino, and Alex Lobanov filmed by Hamas in late 2023 but not released by the terror group.
In August 2024, their captors murdered all six in a Rafah tunnel. The IDF found them two days later.
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The families of the six released a statement saying, “Lighting Hanukkah candles in that dark place captures the essence of the Jewish spirit: light prevailing over darkness. Hamas filmed these videos as propaganda, but the humanity of the Beautiful Six shines through this footage.”
Meanwhile, Hamas believes it can store its weapons for now, but Israel strongly disagrees.
Israeli Government Spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian declared on Thursday, “They will be disarmed. Gaza will be demilitarized, and the people of Gaza will be deradicalized, as stated directly in the 20-point plan (proposed by President Trump).”
She added, “Hamas and other terror factions will not have any role in the governance of Gaza directly, indirectly, or in any form. All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapons production facilities – they will be destroyed and not rebuilt.”
