The conditions of torture and malnutrition experienced by Israeli hostages at the hands of Hamas are worsening, while Trump seeks to end the war and vows revenge against the terrorist group
In a chilling propaganda video published this Friday that sparked outrage around the world, the terrorist group Hamas forced a malnourished Israeli hostage who is on the brink of death to dig his own grave.
The hostage is Eviatar David, 24 years old, who was kidnapped by the terrorist group during the attacks on October 7, 2023. In the video, he appears in a state of severe malnutrition, being tortured as he is forced to cross out dates on a calendar and dig his own grave in a Gaza tunnel.
"I haven't eaten for several days in a row," David confesses in the recording. Halfway through the video, the terrorist filming him hands him a can of legumes that will be his food for the next two days. "This is the grave where I believe they're going to bury me. Time is running out," the hostage is heard saying.
Parte del video difundido por Hamás. The United States and the world react to the video.
The video caused shock among world leaders, even among those who have sided with Hamas by recognizing these terrorists as a Palestinian state and have pressured Israel to abandon the war, such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and France.
Thus, France's Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, described the images as "vile" and "unbearable," days after his boss, President Emmanuel Macron, announced that he plans to recognize a Palestinian state before the UN Assembly in September.
In the United States, condemnation was unanimous across the entire political spectrum. Republican representatives such as Rick Scott and Mike Lawler, as well as Democratic politicians like John Fetterman and Ritchie Torres, denounced the barbarity of Hamas, which continues to refuse to reach an agreement to release the more than 50 hostages in its custody.
Parte del video difundido por Hamás donde se lo ve a David malnutrido.
Netanyahu and David's family also speak out about the video.
David's family, who authorized the publication of the video, said in a statement sent to the Hostage Families Forum that they are witnessing how their son and brother is being deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas's tunnels in Gaza.
Naftali Fürst, a Holocaust survivor from the Auschwitz and Buchenwald camps, said that he watched the images with a "broken heart" and that these images have taken him back to dark decades for the Jewish people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared meanwhile that Hamas terrorists are starving the hostages, documenting them "in a cynical, humiliating, and malicious manner."
Familiares del rehén piden por su liberación.
Trump wants to get the hostages out of Gaza and then seek revenge.
According to NPR, sources with access to Trump commented that the head of state was moved to tears upon seeing the Israeli hostage's health condition and the tortures he is suffering, urging his associates to do everything possible to ensure the release of this and the other kidnapped individuals.
Yesterday, Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to Israel, visited the Gaza Strip and also met with the families of the hostages, in a meeting where he assured them that the end of the war "is very near."
The White House is approaching this stage of the war differently. Instead of seeking a partial agreement, Trump wants to shape an agreement that will free all the hostages and end the war, with the unconditional requirement that Hamas lay down its arms and its leadership go into exile in other countries.
Once the lives of these hostages are secured, the United States and Israel will launch a campaign dedicated exclusively to hunting down exiled Hamas leaders, in pursuit of justice for all the atrocities the terrorist group committed, such as what they are currently doing to David.
