KATHMANDU: A video of Bipin Joshi, a 23-year-old Nepali agricultural student abducted by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack on Kibbutz Alumim in Israel, has been released by his family.

The footage, believed to have been filmed in November 2023, was recovered by the Israel Defense Forces and shared with Joshi’s relatives, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents most of the remaining 48 hostages.

No confirmed communication from Joshi has been received since that month, and Israel reported in May that his fate remains unknown. Despite this uncertainty, the family continues to hold hope for his safe return.

The 33-second video shows Joshi introducing himself in English, likely at the request of his captors. He says: “My name is Bipin Joshi. I am from Nepal. I am 23 years old. I came here to Israel 25 days ago. I came here for the ‘Learn and Earn’ program. I am a student. I work in agricultural farming in citrus and lemon farm.” Toward the end, he gazes off-screen without moving his head.

In a statement, Joshi’s family described the video as “an anchor of firm faith that he is still alive.” They acknowledged the emotional difficulty of releasing the footage publicly but emphasized its importance: “We are in critical and historic days. Days that will decide whether the living hostages will return to their families and the fallen for a proper burial, or whether we will continue to wallow in pain.”

The family chose to release the video to mark the second anniversary of the Hamas attack, keeping international attention on the plight of the hostages.