‘Silence is not an option’: Israel responds to Gaza terror propaganda videos
Both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have released videos of emaciated hostages, with one forced to dig his own grave on camera
Israel’s President has told the world “silence is not an option” after terrorists released sickening videos of starved hostages, including one who is shown digging his own grave.
Emaciated Evyatar David, who was snatched from the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023 and is now 24 years old, was seen in a Hamas propaganda video saying he “hasn’t eaten for days” and digging what he says he believes will be his own grave. One of 20 hostages believed to still be alive in Gaza, he was earlier this year forced to watch the release of other hostages from a van metres from the release stunt, before being taken back to the Strip.
”Hamas is using Evyatar in one of the most horrific and calculated campaigns of cruelty imaginable – a live hunger experiment,” said his brother Ilay. “They are starving him deliberately, systematically, using his agonising suffering as a twisted tool for their depraved propaganda.
“This is not just a violation of international law; it 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. Evyatar is my little brother – a kind, gentle soul whose only ‘crime’ was celebrating at a music peace festival. The thought of his pain, his hunger, his fear in those dark tunnels… it haunts my every waking moment, it invades my dreams.”
During a speech to 60,000 at a packed hostages square last night, Ilay begged the international community and especially Donald Trump to ensure aid food and medical treatment reached the hostages before it is too late.
He said: “To remain silent now is to be complicit in their slow, agonising death. There is no limit to the cruelty we witness inflicted upon him and the others. And there is no end to our family’s unbearable pain. We weep. We suffer. But hear this: we refuse to give up.”
His powerful appeal came a day before the family of fellow hostage Rom Braslavski gave the clearance for the release of part of a video showing the 22-year-old writhing in pain on the floor in captivity. Also painfully thin, he says he can no longer walk. The videos were released as a senior Hamas official said that the plans to recognise a Palestinian state by several countries – including the UK – were “fruits” of the 7 October attacks.
Rom’s mother Tami said: “I have never seen my son like this. Rom is not shouting or angry – he speaks quietly, in a weak voice like a person who has accepted the fact that there’s nothing left to fight for and may not come out of there alive. They say that when words run out, tears speak. Rom, my life, I am crying with you.
In a video released in April, I saw Rom saying difficult things, but I still saw a spark of hope and faith in his eyes. Faith and trust that he placed in the Holy One, in me, in the leadership, in the people – that we would bring him home. My Rom, I look into your eyes and see the disappointment, your heartbreak. I listen to your voice and hear the pain. I don’t know what will happen, but I am doing and will do everything to get you out of there, and I won’t stop until you come home.”
Her message was echoed by President Isaac Herzog who said: “The faces of hostages, Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, say it all. Starved, tortured, wasting away in Hamas’ terror tunnels.
But Hamas doesn’t just starve the hostages. It starves the people of Gaza, by looting aid and blocking humanitarian deliveries which Israel has worked with its international partners to increase. Now Hamas spreads lies and libels, blaming Israel to exploit global compassion. Hamas rejoices as it succeeds in distracting the world from their own crimes against humanity.
He added: “I urge world leaders: demand the hostages’ release. Ensure aid reaches civilians – not terrorists. This is a test of humanity. Silence is not an option.”
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