Israeli hostage families protest after Gaza militants release videos of emaciated captives

RNZ News

18 hours ago

By
Billy Stockwell
,
Eugenia Yosef
,
Ibrahim Dahman
,
Mitchell McCluskey
,
Dana Karni
,
Catherine Nicholls
and
Lauren Izso
, CNN
Pictures of Israeli hostages held in Gaza during a demonstration outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Photo:
Abir Sultan/EPA/Shutterstock via CNN Newsource
Protesters have gathered in Tel Aviv's 'Hostage Square' to stage an emergency protest, after the release of propaganda videos showing emaciated Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.
Videos released
by militant groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad this week showed Israeli hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski in a visibly fragile state. In one video, the undated footage of David was juxtaposed with images of starving Palestinian children.
A poster outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art showing hostage Evyatar David.
Photo:
AFP / Getty Images via CNN Newsource
They are among 50 hostages who remain in the territory, at least 20 of them are believed to be alive.
The militant groups released the videos with ceasefire talks stalled and as Palestinians faced a mounting starvation crisis in the enclave.
Steve Witkoff, the United States' special envoy to the Middle East, attended the public plaza on Saturday amid the protests, one day after he visited a controversial US-backed aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip.
Witkoff later held a "very emotional meeting" that lasted nearly three hours with about 40 representatives of the hostage families, a source who was in attendance at the meeting told CNN.
During the meeting, Witkoff said ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas should be "all or nothing", with all 50 hostages in Gaza being returned to Israel in one go, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum cited him as saying.
"The plan is not to expand the war, but to end it," Witkoff reportedly said. "We think the negotiations should be changed to all or nothing.
"End the war and bring all 50 hostages home at the same time - that's the only way,"
"Someone will be to blame" if the remaining living hostages do not return to Israel still alive, Witkoff said, according to the forum.
According to the forum, Witkoff said that the US would "get your children home and hold Hamas responsible for any bad acts on their part" and "do what's right for the Gazan people".
"We have a plan to end the war and bring everyone home," he reportedly added.
Reached for comment, Witkoff's team did not offer any further information on the special envoy's comments.
The hostage families - who have frequently said that ongoing fighting in Gaza endangered their loved ones - on Saturday (local time) called for an end to the war in the territory and a "comprehensive deal" that would see the remaining hostages freed.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets to call for the release of the hostages.
"Against the backdrop of horrifying footage and harsh reports about the hostages' condition - hostage families will cry out this morning in the heart of Tel Aviv," a statement from Israel's hostage families said. "We appeal to the Israeli government and the US administration - look our loved ones and us in the eyes."
A poster outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art showing hostage Rom Braslavski.
Photo:
AFP / Getty Images via CNN Newsource
Ofir Braslavski, the father of Rom, said that he did not recognise his son, when he first saw him in the video.
"My Rom is hungry for bread, thirsty for water, sick, physically broken and mentally shattered," he said. "My child is dying!
"I address you, [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu]: Enough! The phased approach to deals has failed.
"Make the decision already - end the war and bring everyone here - the hostages, the fallen soldiers, the fighters, the reservists and those displaced from their homes.
"We want to rehabilitate, to return to life, to breathe."
David's brother, Ilay, said that the treatment of his sibling was "a brutal, barbaric assault on every shred of basic human decency. It's an act so vile, it scars the very soul of humanity". He called on the Israeli government and US President Donald Trump to do "everything in your power, by any means necessary" to save the hostages.
Netanyahu spoke with the families of the hostages on Saturday evening, and expressed "profound shock" over the harrowing images released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
"The cruelty of Hamas has no boundaries," he said. "While the State of Israel is allowing the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, the terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving our hostages, and document them in a cynical and evil manner."
Netanyahu told the families that the "efforts to return all our hostages are ongoing, and will continue constantly and relentlessly", according to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt General Eyal Zamir said on Friday that fighting would continue "without rest" in Gaza, if there was no hostage deal.
"I estimate that, in the coming days, we will know whether we will succeed in reaching a partial deal for the release of our captives," he said. "If not, the fighting will continue without rest."
On Friday, the armed wing of Hamas released an undated video showing 24-year-old David - who was taken hostage at the Nova music festival on 7 October, 2023 - being held in a narrow cell.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters initially cautioned against using imagery from the video, but later said that David's family had authorised the publication of a still image.
On Saturday, Hamas released a new video featuring David, which appeared to be a longer version of the video released on Friday.
A similar propaganda video was published by Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Thursday showing Braslavski also in a frail state. Islamic Jihad said it was the last video taken of the hostage, before the group lost contact in July, with the militants holding him.
Earlier this week, a UN-backed food security agency warned that "the
worst case scenario of famine
" was unfolding in Gaza, its starkest alert yet, as Israel faces growing international pressure to allow more food into the territory.
Hospitals across the Gaza Strip were overwhelmed, with bed occupancy reaching more than 200 percent at several facilities, according to the enclave's health ministry. Beds were being placed in corridors and on floors to accommodate increasing numbers of patients and casualties, it said.
Seven people had died from malnutrition in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said Saturday, including one child, bringing the total death toll from starvation since the conflict began in 2023 to 169.
In addition, at least 39 people were killed and more than 800 injured in the same period, while waiting for aid in different parts of the territory, the ministry added.
- CNN