Video released by Hamas about Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American woman from Chicago who was taken hostage, is triggering a mix of emotions among parents

NEW YORK — The parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was taken hostage by Hamas more than six months ago, experienced a “complete mix of emotions” when a new video of their son was released on Wednesday.

“First and foremost, I just feel a great sense of relief and gratitude to see and hear him. Something about this multi-sensory experience was truly mind-blowing. He’s alive,” Jon Polin, his father, said in an interview on “Good Morning America.” ” on Thursday. “Assuming this video is current, which we believe, he is alive.”

A video posted Wednesday on a Hamas-run Telegram channel showed a man who identified himself as Goldberg-Polish, a 24-year-old American, who was captured at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7.

He had this message for his family:

“I love you so much and miss you so much,” Goldberg-Polin said. “I know you’re doing your best to get me home as quickly as possible. I want you to stay strong for me and not stop until we all return home in peace.”

In the heavily edited video, the Israeli-American hostage asks Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to continue working for the hostages' release.

Rachel Goldberg, his mother, said Thursday she couldn't pay attention to the words her son said when she watched the new video for the first time.

“I didn't even listen to the content, I just heard the voice of my only son. I saw him moving and trying to look him in the eyes,” she said. “Every parent, everyone, everyone who has parents can imagine having experienced something like this after 201 days, more than half a year of doubt, fear, anxiety and trauma. It was very bittersweet. And it was really overwhelming.”

Goldberg-Polin's parents described their son as a “curious” and “relaxed person” in a “GMA” interview in October.

Goldberg said at the time that her mantra was: “Stay strong, survive. Stay strong, survive.”

She repeated that mantra on Thursday.

“We love you, stay strong, survive,” she said. “And after seeing him and seeing that he's clearly medically compromised and medically vulnerable, that's definitely, you know, more than ever, my continued appeal to him, to his soul.”