Last Thursday, the armed branch of the Palestinian extremist group Islamic Jihad published a video featuring one of the Israelis being held hostage in the Gaza Strip by the terrorist-stamped Hamas and its allies. The man's relatives have confirmed that it is Rom Braslavski in the film, but have not wanted Israeli media to publish more than a still image. "They managed to break Rom," says the family in a statement, reports The Jerusalem Post.
The day after, Hamas' armed branch, the al-Qassam brigades, released a video of another of the hostages. His family confirms that it is 23-year-old Evyatar David, who was taken hostage when the Palestinian extremist groups started the war on October 7, 2023.
Appears emaciated
The man is bare-chested in the video and his ribs, hip bones, and collarbones are clearly visible on his thin body. He describes how he eats lentils and beans, and on the tunnel wall there is a self-drawn calendar where he says he writes down what he eats every day - sometimes days pass between meals.
In the edited propaganda film, it then cuts to a sequence where he shovels dirt in the tunnel and says he is digging his own grave.
"They eat what we eat," it says in another propaganda film, while images of the man are cut together with images of undernourished children from Gaza.
Netanyahu requests help
On Saturday evening, families of the hostages organized a demonstration in Tel Aviv to mark that it has been 666 days since the hostages were taken. Evyatar David's siblings were among those present and gave speeches.
Hamas is using our Evyatar as a living experiment in a disgusting hunger campaign, say the siblings.
That same evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with the families of the two hostages who appear in the propaganda films. According to a statement from his staff, he said he was "shocked" by the videos.
According to a statement from his office on Sunday, Netanyahu has requested help from the International Red Cross Committee to deliver food and medical aid to the hostages being held in Gaza.
Hamas responded, however, that it can only happen if corridors are opened to bring in supplies by land.
On Sunday morning, protesters, including relatives of the hostages, also blocked the major highway Ayalon in Tel Aviv. The protest group says in a statement that "you get short of breath" from the video clips of the hostages.
