Nepali hostage Bipin Joshi’s family releases video from shortly after October 7
Relatives of farming student, the only non-Israeli still held by Hamas, say footage is proof he is still alive, though they have not received a sign of life for him since Nov. 2023
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The family of Bipin Joshi, a Nepali agricultural student taken hostage by Hamas, on Wednesday released a video of him that was filmed shortly after he was abducted in the October 7, 2023, attack.
The video, which was recovered by the Israel Defense Forces and shared with the family, is thought to have been filmed in November 2023, according to a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents relatives of most of the remaining 48 hostages.
No sign of life has been received for Joshi since that month. In May, Israel said his fate was unknown, but the family is holding out hope.
In the 33-second-long video, Joshi introduces himself in English, likely at the demand of his captors.
“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,” he says. “I work in agricultural farm[ing] in citrus and lemon farm.”
At the end of the video, Joshi looks at something off-screen, without moving his head.
In a statement released via the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Joshi’s family said the video has become “an anchor of firm faith that he is still alive.”
“It is not easy for us to release it to the world,” the family said of the video, “but 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.”
Pushpa Joshi, the Nepalese hostage’s sister, spoke to reporters in Israel on Wednesday night about the family’s decision to release the video.
“We decided to release it to show that he is in Gaza and alive, and maybe it can create a little bit of pressure on the negotiating teams to understand our feelings, our pain,” she said. “It’s two years, it’s too much pain for us and the hostages and the other hostages’ families.”
“When I saw the video, my mom was next to me and my father, and first I thanked God that I didn’t see any injuries on his face or his body and then my body was shaking and I couldn’t control my tears,” said Joshi, who is 17.
The family has been staying with relatives in North Carolina, as part of an extended visit to the US, where they are advocating for their son and brother in Washington, DC, and at the United Nations. Their goal is to get to the White House, according to an Israeli spokesperson for the family.
“We are here with hopeful hearts and we want to meet [US] President Donald Trump and advocate for Bipin’s safe release,” said the captive’s sister. “President Trump gave an ultimatum to Hamas and Israel to negotiate, so we’re very thankful for this. Thank you, Mr. President. We are totally dependent on you and really hope that your steps will give us our Bipin back.”
The release of the clip comes amid growing optimism over talks in Egypt on a 20-point plan proposed by Trump to end the two-year Gaza war and release the 48 hostages held in the Strip. The plan also calls for Hamas to disarm and give up control of the territory to an international force as Israel withdraws its troops.
Top officials from all sides were at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh in the Sinai Peninsula, where talks were taking place on Wednesday.
Joshi was abducted by Hamas terrorists from Kibbutz Alumim, where he was studying farming. He was part of a group of Nepali students who had arrived in Israel only three weeks earlier as part of an academic program to care for orange and lemon orchards, according to Ynet.
On the day of the attack, he hid in a safe room and deflected a grenade that terrorists threw in. He remained in the room to help people who had been wounded by another grenade.
During the attack, he sent several messages to his cousin in English, writing, “If something happens to me, you have to take care of my family. Be strong and always see the future.”
In August, Joshi’s mother and sister visited Israel for the first time since the October 7 attack.
“Please, rescue my son,” said his mother, Padma, as she broke down in tears after landing at Ben Gurion Airport. “Hamas, bring [him] back home now. Please, return [him] home, Hamas. Please. Please.”
Waiting at the airport for the family were four friends of Bipin, who studied with him in university in Nepal, came with him to Israel in September 2023, and were wounded during the October 7 attack but managed to evade captivity.
The president of the Israeli college where Bipin studied agriculture also came to welcome his loved ones.
Days later, the family sat at a protest tent outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem. Nepal’s ambassador to Israel, Dhan Prasad Pandit, sat alongside them.
“After we return to Nepal, please don’t forget Bipin Joshi, please keep supporting us, and please raise [your] voice for my brother,” his sister told the crowd at the tent. “I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for this support, for giving me strength and hope.”
Pandit added that the Nepali government is still “not sure about the situation and condition of Bipin. This is a really big concern.”
Charlie Summers contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.