Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a strong condemnation following the release of a disturbing Hamas video showing 24-year-old Israeli hostage Evyatar David appearing severely malnourished and forced to dig what he described as his own grave.
“The cruelty of Hamas has no boundaries,” Netanyahu stated, emphasizing the contrast between Israel’s provision of humanitarian aid to Gaza and Hamas’s intentional starvation and exploitation of hostages for propaganda purposes. He urged the global community to denounce what he called “criminal Nazi-like abuse” by Hamas.
Netanyahu’s office said he had an in-depth conversation with the families of Evyatar David and another hostage, Rom Braslavski, who was also recently featured in a similar video.
He assured them that efforts to bring all hostages home continue with full determination and expressed heartfelt sympathy from himself and his wife, Sara.
In the propaganda video, David, shirtless and visibly frail, is seen scratching days off a calendar and digging inside a cramped tunnel.
His family, through the Hostages Families Forum, described the footage as horrifying, calling the deliberate starvation of their son a “living skeleton buried alive” and one of the most appalling acts imaginable.
Speaking at a mass protest in Tel Aviv, David’s brother, Ilay, described the hostages as being at the brink of death, warning that their condition leaves them with only days to live. He accused Hamas of conducting a calculated “hunger experiment” and using the suffering of hostages for manipulative propaganda, calling it an inhumane violation of international norms and an attack on human dignity. Meanwhile, ceasefire and hostage negotiations remain stalled, prompting U.S. and Israeli negotiators to withdraw from talks in Doha.
In a recent visit to Gaza, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff toured food distribution sites and met with humanitarian agencies to assess conditions and report back to President Donald Trump, who is working on a plan to deliver aid directly to Gaza civilians.
A spokesperson for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation reiterated that any aid must prioritize civilians, not Hamas.
