‘Walking to my grave’: Outrage after Hamas releases video of emaciated Israeli hostage

London: The family of an Israeli hostage has accused Hamas of starving their son after the terror group released a video of the emaciated man with a shovel in a darkened tunnel, saying on camera he was digging his own grave.

In a harrowing video that has sparked outrage in Israel, the hostage speaks to the camera operator about not knowing what he will be able to eat.

“I’m walking directly to my grave,” he says towards the end of the video, as he digs the sand at the base of the narrow tunnel. “This is the grave where I think I’m going to be buried.”

The man, Evyatar David, has been held hostage by Hamas for 666 days after being captured by the listed terror group when it killed and seized civilians at a music festival in southern Israel as part of its October 7 attacks in 2023.

At one point in the video, when he is handed a can of food, he says the single can is meant to last for two days so that he does not die.

The outcry over David’s condition comes as world leaders urge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help speed the delivery of food to Palestinian civilians in Gaza. The World Food Program says more than 500,000 people are enduring famine-like conditions in the enclave of 2 million people.

Families of the 50 hostages still in Gaza fear they are going hungry too, and blame Hamas.

“The humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza, meant to alleviate suffering, must reach Evyatar, Guy and all the other hostages too,” David’s brother Ilay told a large rally in Tel Aviv on Saturday.

Under international pressure amid growing scenes of starving children, Israel announced last week it would implement limited humanitarian pauses and allow airdrops of food supplies, but aid groups say far too little aid is entering the territory, with months of supplies piled up outside Gaza waiting for Israeli approval.

On Saturday, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said seven Palestinians, including a child, had died of malnutrition-related causes in the previous 24 hours. Dozens of people were also killed while seeking aid, witnesses and health workers said, including 10 who died after Israeli forces opened fire near two distribution sites run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

US President Donald Trump has sent his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to Israel to explore a potential deal that could lead to a ceasefire after Trump acknowledged last Monday that there was starvation in Gaza. Witkoff also visited Gaza on Friday, including a GHF aid site.

Witkoff raised hopes for a ceasefire in a meeting with families of hostages on Saturday, according to a recording of the meeting reported by Reuters.

“We have a very, very good plan that we’re working on collectively with the Israeli government, with Prime Minister Netanyahu ... for the reconstruction of Gaza. That effectively means the end of the war,” he said.

Hamas released the hostage video two days ago in an attempt to apply pressure on Netanyahu over the war, declaring hostages would only be released if Israel agreed to a ceasefire.

David’s family approved the public release of the video on Saturday and said the footage showed he was being deliberately starved.

“We are forced to witness our dear son and brother Evyatar being deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza – a living skeleton buried alive,” the family said in a statement.

“Our son has only a few days left to live in his current condition. Hamas is using our son, Evyatar, as a living experiment in a disgusting hunger campaign.

“There is no limit to the pain the Hamas terror group causes the hostages and the residents of Gaza.”

The David family has criticised “Hamas propaganda” in the Israeli media and urged Trump and the government of Israel to do everything in their power to save David and other remaining hostages.

World leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have urged Netanyahu to stop the war and allow more food to be distributed to civilians in Gaza, while also condemning Hamas and saying it should not have any role in the future of the Palestinian territory.

Netanyahu has accused the three leaders, and others, of appeasing terrorists by preparing to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September.

“The cruelty of Hamas has no boundaries,” Netanyahu said after talking to the hostage’s family.

“While the state of Israel is allowing the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, the terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving our hostages and document them in a cynical and evil manner.

“The entire world must take a stand in a clear message against the criminal Nazi abuse perpetrated by the Hamas terror organisation.”

with Reuters, AP

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