‘He must be saved!’: Brother of emaciated Israeli hostage pleads for his release
Benjamin Netanyahu said the IDF must ‘complete’ the defeat of Hamas in Gaza to secure the release of hostages.
The brother of Israeli hostage Evyatar David called on the world to “come together” to secure his freedom following the release of a video in which the emaciated captive was shown purportedly digging his own grave.
Mr David, 24, was one of 251 people taken captive by Hamas and its allies during their October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, which triggered the war in Gaza.
Last week, Hamas released propaganda videos showing him severely undernourished and visibly weakened, including one in which he digs with a shovel in the sandy floor of a tunnel, saying he is preparing his grave.
“The world must come together now … and demand his release. He must be saved!” his brother, Ilay David, said in an interview on Tuesday with AFP in Kfar Saba near Tel Aviv, at the family home where they were raised.
The recent videos of Evyatar David and fellow hostage Rom Braslavski have sparked outrage and fear for their safety among Israelis, as well as condemnations of Hamas from abroad.
In captivity for nearly 22 months, Mr David has since become a symbol of the ongoing ordeal of the 20 hostages believed to still be alive among the 49 held by Hamas.
Red and black posters demanding his release hang on the walls of the family’s living room, the same posters that plaster walls across Israel in solidarity with the hostages.
On February 23, Hamas released a video showing Mr David sitting in a vehicle alongside another hostage as they were forced to watch a staged ceremony marking the release of three other captives during a brief ceasefire that later collapsed.
“That was the last sign of life we had from him,” Ilay David told AFP. “We thought then that was the worst possible cruelty … These new images show just how urgent it is to get him out of that tunnel,”
‘Complete defeat’
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the army must “complete” the defeat of Hamas in Gaza to secure the release of hostages, ahead of an expected meeting with security chiefs on an updated war plan.
“It is necessary to complete the defeat of the enemy in Gaza, to free all our hostages and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel,” Mr Netanyahu said during a visit to an army training facility.
Israeli media reported that Mr Netanyahu was expected to sit down in Jerusalem later on Tuesday with the chief of staff and the Defence Minister, and that he was considering ordering the total occupation of the Palestinian territory.
The timing of the meeting has not been officially confirmed. “Netanyahu wants the Israeli army to conquer the entire Gaza Strip,” said a report on public broadcaster Kan.
Mr Netanyahu said on Monday he would convene the cabinet later in the week to approve new instructions.
“Several cabinet members who spoke with the Prime Minister confirmed that he has decided to extend the fight to areas where hostages might be held,” Kan reported.
The private daily Maariv declared: “The die is cast. We’re en route for the total conquest of Gaza.” However, some major media outlets such as Channel 12 have questioned whether the rumoured expansion of military operations is merely a negotiating tactic, and whether Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir would oppose such a decision.
“The Chief of Staff is required to express his professional opinion clearly and unequivocally to the political leadership. I am convinced that he will do so,” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on X.
While a reconquest plan has not been officially confirmed, it has already drawn an angry response from the Palestinian Authority and Gaza’s Hamas-run government, which insisted it will not shift its position on ceasefire talks.
“The ball is in the hands of … (Israel) and the Americans,” senior Hamas official Husam Badran told AFP, adding that the militant group wanted to “end the war and the famine”.
Desperate families
After 22 months of combat sparked by the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas that killed 1219 people and saw hundreds kidnapped, the Israeli army has devastated large parts of the Palestinian territory.
More than 60,933 Palestinians have been killed, according to figures from Hams-run Gaza’s health ministry, and humanitarian agencies have warned that the territory’s 2.4 million people are slipping into a catastrophic famine.
But Mr Netanyahu is under pressure on several fronts.
Domestically, the desperate and vocal families of the 49 remaining hostages are demanding a ceasefire to bring their loved ones home.
Around the world, humanitarians are pushing for a truce to allow in food to the starving, and several European capitals have announced plans to recognise Palestinian statehood, despite fierce US and Israeli opposition.
Meanwhile, Mr Netanyahu’s far-right allies in his ruling coalition want to seize the opportunity of the war to reoccupy Gaza and tighten control of the occupied West Bank.
Mr Saar was in New York, where the US was helping organise a UN Security Council meeting to focus world attention on the fate of the hostages.
The defence ministry civil affairs agency for the Palestinian territories, COGAT, said on Tuesday that Israel would partially reopen private sector trade with Gaza to reduce its reliance on UN and aid agency convoys and international military airdrops.
“As part of formulating the mechanism, a limited number of local merchants were approved by the defence establishment, subject to several criteria and strict security screening,” COGAT said.
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