“The Zionist prisoners” said to the Israeli government: “Don’t let us grow old” What’s the story?
Shrouq
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of the Hamas movement, published, through its account on Telegram, a video clip of three elderly “Israeli” prisoners, demanding their release “at any cost.”
The video began with the phrase, “Don’t let us grow old,” and was written in three languages: Hebrew, Arabic, and English.
After that, 3 elderly Israelis appeared, and one of them spoke and introduced himself as Haim Berri, who is 79 years old.
He mentioned that he was Kibbutz Nir Oz, which is close to Gaza, and said: “I am here with a group of elderly people, all of whom suffer from chronic diseases and suffer from very harsh conditions.”
He added: “We are the generation that built the state. We are partners in building the army, and I do not understand why we are left here?”
He continued: “You must release us at all costs.” We do not want to be victims of Air Force targeting. We were released unconditionally.”
He concluded his message by saying: “Don’t let us grow old,” and then the two other prisoners who appeared in the video repeated the same message.
Do not leave me in old age
“Do not leave me in old age. Do not leave me when my strength is gone”. This is what the lyrics of the song say in the video, which is a Jewish religious hymn taken from Psalm 71, where the person chanting this verse asks God not to abandon him, so he says:
“Do not reject me in the time of old age. Do not leave me when my strength is exhausted (..) O God, do not be far from me. Oh my God, hurry to my help (..) And also to my old age and gray hair, O God, do not leave me, until I tell the next generation of your arm, and of your strength to all who come.”
The song “Do not leave me in the time of old age,” taken from Psalm 71 and used in the Al-Qassam Brigades video, was sung and composed by Avihu Medina, born August 19, 1948.
He is an “Israeli” singer, songwriter, and composer who won the “Israel” Award in the field of Hebrew Singer for the year 2022.
Exchange deals
It is noteworthy that the Israeli occupation tried to include elderly prisoners held by the resistance in the Gaza Strip in exchange deals within the framework of the temporary truce, but the Hamas movement confirmed that the prisoners who served in the occupation army were included in the framework of the “all for all” deal, and refused to release them within the deals. The exchange of male and female prisoners and child prisoners was based on the release of 10 female and child prisoners in the occupation prisons for every female prisoner or child prisoner held by the resistance.
South Lebanon
On a related level, the border region in southern Lebanon is witnessing an ongoing military escalation between Israel and Hezbollah since the Hamas movement launched, on October 7, an unprecedented surprise attack inside Israel, which responded with devastating bombing and a ground operation in Gaza.
Israel evacuated tens of thousands of civilians from Israeli villages and towns near the border as a precaution in anticipation of a similar attack by Hezbollah's special "Radwan" forces.
The Israeli government has said publicly that, in order to allow Israeli citizens to return to their homes, the situation must change either through a diplomatic solution or military action.
The violence, which is still confined to the border areas, has left more than 136 dead, including about 100 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon, and at least 11 dead on the Israeli side, according to Agence France-Presse.
