“My son is dying! I direct myself, Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu] To tell you: Enough! The gradual approach to negotiating agreements failed. Take the decision now – finish the war and bring everyone here, “said the hostage father who appears in the images
Tens of thousands of people manifested in Telavive on Saturday night to ask for the release of hostages that are still in the hands of Hamas in Gaza, after the release of videos showing two Israeli prisoners.
The videos released by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad Palestinian show the Israeli hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski in a visibly fragile state. In one of the videos, David – visibly thin – appears to dig a hole for what he says is his own grave.
Protesters – some to wield posters with the slogans “stop the war” and “don’t leave anyone behind” – watched the part of the video showing David, which was designed on a giant screen after their family has given permission to display.
The two hostages are among the 50 that still remain in the territory. Of these, it is believed that at least 20 are still alive.
In what seems to be an attempt to press the Israeli authorities, Hamas has released their videos at a time when ceasefire negotiations are in a impasse and Palestinians face growing hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip. Health authorities say 13 people have died of malnutrition in the last 48 hours, including a child, raising the total number of hunger deaths from the beginning of the conflict in 2023 to 175.
At the demonstration, Ofir Braslavski, Rom’s father, said he did not recognize his son when he first saw him in the video.
“My rom is hungry, thirsty, sick, physically fragile and mentally destroyed. My son is dying! [Benjamin Netanyahu] To tell you: Enough! The gradual approach to negotiating agreements failed. Make the decision now – finish the war and bring everyone here. The hostages, the dead soldiers, the combatants, the reservists and those who were moved from their homes. We want to go back to our lives, breathe again, ”he said.
The Israeli hostage Evyatar David in a photographer of a no -date advertising video published by Hamas on August 1. (Hamas/Forum of hostage and missing families via CNN)
“Someone will be guilty,” warns Witkoff
On Saturday, Steve Witkoff, a special US envoy to the Middle East, was present at the “Praça dos Hostilos” in Telavive, in the middle of the protests, a day after visiting a controversial US supported humanitarian aid distribution site.
Witkoff had a “very exciting meeting” that lasted almost three hours with about 40 representatives of the hostage families, the CNN told CNN a source present at the meeting.
During the meeting, Witkoff argued that ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas should be “all or nothing”, with all 50 hostages in Gaza to be returned to Israel at once, according to the missing hostage and families forum.
“The plan is not to expand the war, but to end it. We believe that negotiations must be changed to an ‘all or nothing’ approach. End war and bring all 50 hostages home at the same time – that’s the only way,” Witkoff argued.
When questioned, the Witkoff team was no use more information about the comments of the special envoy.
The hostage families – who often denounce that the fighting in Gaza put their loved ones at risk – appealed on Saturday to the end of the war in the territory and a “comprehensive agreement” that allows the release of all hostages.
“Having as its backdrop horrible images and severe reports about the condition of hostages, hostage families will manifest this morning in the heart of Telavive,” can be read in a statement from the family members of Israel’s hostages. “We appeal to the Israelite government and the US administration: look in the eyes of our loved ones and ours.”
Netanyahu spoke to the hostage families on Saturday night and expressed “deep shock” with the distressing images released by Hamas.
The prime minister assured families that “efforts to rescue all hostages are underway and will continue constantly and tirelessly,” according to a note from the Israeli Prime Minister’s office.
On Sunday, Netanyahu asked the international red cross to help send hostage food and medical care. “The world cannot remain indifferent to shocking images that resemble Nazi crimes,” wrote Netanyahu, on his official social network account.
Hamas refuses to give access to the hostages through the Red Cross, which only facilitated previous liberations.
The Red Cross International Committee said it is “extremely disappointing” not yet achieved access to hostages in Gaza.
“He was simply forgotten”
On Friday, Hamas’s armed arm released a 24-year-old David-showed video-which was taken hostage at the new music festival on October 7, 2023-arrested in a narrow cell. David-dead images resemble images of evil Palestinian children.
On Saturday, Hamas released a new video with David, which seems to be a longer version of the video released on Friday.
A similar video was published by Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Thursday, which shows Braslavski also in a fragile state. The Islamic jihad says it was the last recorded video of the hostage before the group lost contact in July with the militants who kept it in captivity.
Earlier this week, a UN -supported diet agency warned that “the worst hunger scenario” is unfolding in Gaza – its most severe warning so far – while Israel faces growing international pressure to allow more food to enter the territory.
Hospitals throughout the Gaza range are overloaded, with the occupation of beds to reach more than 200% in several facilities, according to the Ministry of Health of the Enclave. The beds are being placed in the corridors and on the floor to accommodate the growing number of patients and victims, the ministry said.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that at least 104 people have been killed and more than 1,300 have been injured in the last 48 hours while waiting for help in different parts of the territory.
