The terrorist organization Hamas released another video showing a sign of life from hostage Maxim Herkin. Herkin, 35, from Tirat Carmel, has been held captive in the Gaza Strip for 575 days. This is the second such sign of life in a month. In April, his family identified him alongside fellow hostage Bar Kupershtein.
Herkin was abducted on October 7 from the Nova music festival in Re'im, which he had attended with friends. He immigrated to Israel with his single mother, Tala, and has a younger brother, Peter, 11, who is waiting for him to return. Also waiting for him are his partner, Anna, and their 3½-year-old daughter, Monica, whom he visited in Russia about a week before his abduction.
On the morning of the festival, Maxim managed to send a message to his mother: "Mom, everything is fine. I'm coming home slowly." When he failed to return, she began to realize that something terrible had happened, until she was officially informed that her son had been kidnapped. Talia, who came to Israel from Ukraine in search of safety and a new home, is now fighting for her son's return.
"Maxim is our backbone, our anchor," she said. "My younger son and I live in his house, and he helps us make a living. He is my whole world. He had many dreams, he studied and worked while taking care of me and his brother."
Unlike some of the hostages who were avid festivalgoers and part of the party scene, Maxim's story is different. He was not particularly fond of parties and attended the Nova festival only after being persuaded by a friend and the friend's wife to join them. The couple were murdered that day and were later found burned together in a car.
Talia and Monica both hold Russian citizenship, which raised hopes that Moscow might intervene on his behalf. Israel's ambassador to Moscow, Simona Halperin, previously stated that Israel and Russia were working together to secure the release of three hostages held in Gaza who are not included in the first stage of the deal and do not hold Russian citizenship.
