On Monday, the Al-Qassam Brigades released a video featuring three elderly Israeli prisoners who urged their government to act immediately for their release. The video, titled "Do Not Let Us Grow Old," had a Hebrew song playing in the background that accompanied the prisoners' remarks. They stated they had participated in building the state and the army, imploring not to be abandoned and expressing their surprise at being left in Gaza without efforts for their retrieval.
According to "Ultra Palestine," the song is a chant titled "Do Not Abandon Me in Old Age," used to describe a plea from someone in need, requesting not to be disregarded when they are no longer needed, specifically referencing parental responsibility. The lyrics of the song say, "Do not abandon me in old age. Do not leave me when my strength fails." This is a religious Jewish chant derived from Psalm 71, where the person chanting asks God not to forsake them, stating: "Do not reject me in old age. Do not leave me when my strength fails (...) O God, do not be far from me. O my God, hasten to my aid (...) And also to old age and gray hair, O God, do not forsake me, until I tell the coming generation of Your arm, and of Your strength to all who are to come."
The song "Do Not Abandon Me in Old Age," taken from Psalm 71 and used in the Al-Qassam Brigades' video, was sung and composed by Avihu Medina, born on August 19, 1948. He is an Israeli singer, songwriter, and composer who won the Israel Prize for Hebrew singing in 2022.
