JERUSALEM (BN24) — Two harrowing videos released by Hamas show a skeletal Evyatar David, a 24-year-old Israeli hostage, pleading for food and digging what he believes may become his own grave. The footage, shared shortly after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met with the families of hostages in Israel, has intensified concerns about the conditions of captives held in Gaza and the deepening humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory.
David, who was abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, during the Nova music festival, appears gaunt and visibly weakened in the videos. In one clip, he says he hasn’t eaten for three days. His shoulder blades protrude sharply, a sign of extreme starvation. Speaking from a dimly lit tunnel, he details the meager rations he’s been surviving on—lentils, beans, and little drinking water.
“They give me what they can get,” he says, crouched in an underground shaft where a handmade calendar marks the passage of time. In the most disturbing segment, David digs into the earth with a shovel. The subtitle reads: “This is the grave where I think I’m going to be buried in. Time is running out.”
The release of the videos has drawn strong condemnation from David’s family, who called his treatment “deliberate and cynical starvation.”
“Our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, is a living skeleton, buried alive in Hamas’s tunnels,” they said in a statement. “He has only days left to live unless he receives proper nourishment. The intentional starvation, torture, and abuse of Evyatar for propaganda purposes violate the most basic principles of humanitarian law and human decency.”
The distressing footage emerged just as the United Nations renewed warnings of “man-made mass starvation” in Gaza, with its Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IFSPC) reporting that a worst-case scenario famine is unfolding. Since April, more than 20,000 children have reportedly been treated for acute malnutrition, and Gaza’s health ministry said seven more people—including a child—died from hunger-related causes in the past 24 hours.
Witkoff’s visit to a food distribution site operated by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) on Friday came under renewed scrutiny. The GHF initiative has faced international criticism amid reports of violence near its aid sites. According to the UN, at least 859 people have been killed in proximity to GHF operations since late May.
Families of the approximately 50 hostages still believed to be held by Hamas fear their loved ones are enduring the same starvation David describes. While Israel maintains it avoids harming civilians and blames Hamas for manipulating chaos around aid, the graphic new evidence of hostage suffering has amplified pressure on all sides.
David’s condition and the broader humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza underscore the urgent need for renewed diplomatic efforts to secure hostage releases and increase aid deliveries.
