Recent videos from militant groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad depicted Israeli hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski in a clearly weakened condition.
In one video posted, the undated footage of David is juxtaposed with images of starving Palestinian children.
Ofir Braslavski, the father of Rom, said that he did not recognise his son when he first saw him in the video.
“My Rom is hungry for bread, thirsty for water, sick, physically broken and mentally shattered. My child is dying!” he said.
“I address you, (Israeli) Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu): Enough! The phased approach to deals has failed,” he said.
“Make the decision already – end the war and bring everyone here. The hostages, the fallen soldiers, the fighters, the reservists, and those displaced from their homes. We want to rehabilitate, to return to life, to breathe,” he continued.
David’s brother, Ilay, stated that the treatment of his sibling is “a brutal, barbaric assault on every shred of basic human decency. It’s an act so vile, it scars the very soul of humanity.”
He called on the Israeli government and US President Donald Trump to do “everything in your power, by any means necessary,” to save the hostages.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir mentioned on Friday that the conflict will persist “without rest” in Gaza if a hostage agreement is not reached.
“I estimate that in the coming days we will know whether we will succeed in reaching a partial deal for the release of our captives. If not, the fighting will continue without rest,” he said.
‘He has simply been forgotten there’
On Friday, the armed contingent of Hamas disclosed an undated video showing 24-year-old David – captured during the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023 – being confined in a small cell.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters initially cautioned against using imagery from the video, but later said that David’s family had authorised the publication of a still image.
On Saturday, Hamas released a new video featuring David which appears to be a longer version of the video released on Friday.
A similar propaganda video was published by Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Thursday showing Braslavski also in a frail state. Islamic Jihad said it was the last video taken of the hostage before the group lost contact in July with the militants holding him.
Earlier this week, a UN-backed food security agency warned that “the worst case scenario of famine” is unfolding in Gaza, its starkest alert yet as Israel faces growing international pressure to allow more food into the territory.
Hospitals across the Gaza Strip are overwhelmed, with bed occupancy reaching more than 200 per cent at several facilities, according to the enclave’s health ministry. Beds are being placed in corridors and on floors to accommodate increasing numbers of patients and casualties, it said.
Seven people have died from malnutrition in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Saturday, including one child, bringing the total death toll from starvation since the conflict began in 2023 to 169.
In addition, at least 39 people were killed and more than 800 injured in the same period while waiting for aid in different parts of the territory, the ministry added.
