IDF vision shows Israeli-American hostage's reunion with family
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ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
Israel's war in Gaza faces difficult path forward after release of hostage videos
Flick on the evening TV news in Israel and it's not uncommon to be presented with a very different view of what's happening in Gaza than what the rest of the world is seeing. Images of starvation on the ground have only recently started to make it to the airwaves. And, depending on which channel you're watching, they're often accompanied by accusations Hamas has caused it and sometimes questions or outright rejections that hunger actually exists in the strip at all. Compare that to the scenes over the weekend as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group released videos of two of the 50 Israeli hostages still held captive in Gaza, prompting extensive and understandable local media interest. Only 20 of those hostages are believed to be alive, and Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David are among them — even though the videos of them show their grip on life is slipping. Mr Braslavski, 21, could be seen writhing in pain, tearfully speaking into the camera and pleading for an end to the war. Mr David, 24, was shown dangerously thin and digging what he said was his own grave. The videos have prompted an outpouring of anger and disgust in Israel, sprayed in multiple directions. There is the official line from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — that this is evidence of the barbarism of the terrorists who attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage. That approach seizes upon the collective trauma still experienced by the Israeli population, which local human rights groups said just last week had been taken advantage of by the government. There's also the response from the community, which is furious about the actions of Hamas and PIJ, while many people are also incensed at the conduct of their government in failing to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal to bring them home. The release of the videos comes at a precarious moment in the war in Gaza, which has been mired for months in a stalemate over a potential ceasefire and hostage deal. The decision to publish the videos, and the response they have garnered, gives an insight into the difficulties moving forward. International pressure on Israel over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has been simmering for many months now, but it's boiled over in the past few weeks as images of starving children have been seen around the world and become impossible to ignore. Despite relentless warnings and accusations of serious abuses by Israeli forces — all of which have been denied by the military and the Netanyahu government — it is scenes of babies lying helpless in hospital beds that appear to have cut through. Whether that public reckoning — forcing countries including Australia to sharpen their rhetoric against Israel — is too little, too late will be debated long after the war ends. But the fact it has prompted that shift explains the events of this past weekend. Videos and photos of distressed Israeli hostages have been released before, and they have promoted understandable concern. Hamas and PIJ's decision to publish videos of emaciated hostages at a time when Gaza itself is in the throes of the "worst-case scenario of famine", according to the UN-backed food security organisation IPC, is deliberate. The groups are using the international focus on the crisis in Gaza to push their message — a lack of food for Palestinians means a lack of food for captives. Just last week, former Israeli hostage Yair Horn said captives could tell when aid was available in Gaza because they would receive more food than at other times. Netanyahu was so incensed by the videos, he called the head of the Red Cross's local delegation and told him to ensure food and medical care was provided to the hostages in Gaza. Hamas responded by saying it would work to facilitate such support, but only if Israel reopened all humanitarian corridors into Gaza. There's a calculation here about what impact these types of videos will have on the war and negotiations to bring it to an end. Ceasefire and hostage talks between Israel and Hamas have been stalled for months. Seeing the state of the two men could give Israel greater impetus to strike a deal, but it could also backfire on Hamas. One risk is that this exercise emboldens Israel to go even harder in Gaza, to punish Hamas and PIJ even more than it already has, which is an approach likely to have dire consequences for the Palestinian population. Gaza's health authorities say in excess of 60,000 people have been killed in 22 months of war — figures backed by the United Nations but disputed by Israel, despite it not putting forward any of its own data about the death toll. But increasing the intensity of its military campaign in Gaza also carries the chance of killing the very hostages the Israeli government professes to want to free. That's one of the reasons why the IDF held back from targeting the area of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza until recently. It reportedly had intelligence it was the area where captives were being hidden. As the videos were published, the mother of one former hostage, mistakenly killed by Israeli forces during a botched rescue operation in late 2023, posted on social media that surrender to Hamas was the only chance for the remaining hostages to be brought home. And while the global sentiment, particularly among world leaders, in support of the starving Palestinian population has been growing more favourable in recent weeks, a reminder of the treatment dished out to Israeli hostages could also shatter that for Hamas. Israel's Channel 13 reported that despite the "shocking" videos of Mr Braslavski and Mr David, the agenda for the government's weekly cabinet meeting did not foreshadow discussion of the plight of the hostages. Instead, it was focused on matters like bolstering security for Mr Netanyahu and his family, and the sacking of Israel's attorney-general — the senior legal adviser in the public service who has been a thorn in the side of the Netanyahu government by criticising controversial policies and laws. At the start of the meeting, the prime minister did mention the war and the desire to bring hostages home to his colleagues as cameras were in the room, as well as plans to convene another cabinet meeting later in the week to help steer the IDF in a new direction. Mr Netanyahu has already reportedly presented a plan to the IDF to totally occupy Gaza as part of these "next steps". The sense being expressed in some corners of the Israeli media is that Mr Netanyahu will say one thing publicly, and do something which achieves an entirely different purpose behind closed doors. In this case, he'll express concern about the hostages but develop plans to push the war forward even further. Whatever the outcome, Mr Netanyahu's plans will likely have significant consequences for the population in Gaza and for the hopes of hostages' families being reunited with their loved ones.
Sky News AU
4 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Brother of Hamas hostage Evyatar David speaks of ‘emotional torture' family endures as doctors give just him ‘days' to live
The brother of Hamas hostage Evyatar David has told Sky News of the 'emotional torture' his family has endured since his younger sibling was taken prisoner almost two years ago, with doctors saying he has just 'days' to live. The brother of Hamas hostage Evyatar David has spoken of the 'emotional torture' his family has endured since his younger sibling was taken prisoner almost two years ago, with doctors saying he has just 'days' to live. Speaking to Sky News Australia on Tuesday evening, Ilay David said he thought watching other hostages being released and separated from the others was the 'peak of cruelty' before Hamas released footage of his emaciated brother. Over the weekend, Evyatar David's family gave permission for a video of him, emaciated and weak, digging his own grave in the tunnels beneath Gaza to be used to raise awareness about the treatment of hostages. 'We couldn't recognise him,' Ilay David told Sky News host Sharri Markson. 'We could barely recognise his voice. He can barely move. He's so weak. He's experiencing tremendous pain all over the body. 'Doctors are saying it's a matter of days, it's a matter of days, he needs to be taken care of right now.' The hostage's brother said his family believed there was another captive with Evyatar under the same circumstances and appealed for them to both be rescued and fed. He said when Hamas released the video of his younger brother, his mother could not watch it. 'My mum couldn't watch. My father had to watch,' Mr David said. 'He had to have a sign of life from his son, no matter how horrible it is. My mum, she only cries. My father can't sleep after he saw those images. 'Evyatar is such a sweet, kind boy… He plays music, has the soul of a musician and he's such a good son to my parents. I actually learned from him, he's my younger brother, but I actually learn from him to be a better son. 'Seeing them shattered like that, my parents, breaks my heart every day.' Mr David told Markson the 'chubby hand' in the video giving Evyatar a can of beans belonged to Hamas terrorists who were giving him a 'prize' for telling the cameras what he was supposed to say. — Israel ישר×ל (@Israel) August 2, 2025 'It only means one thing, the terrorists are eating well. They have proper food next door. Every time guys are in this dungeon underground right next to them, their captors are healthy and fat,' he said. 'They are that cruel, that twisted, their minds are so twisted that they use human beings as starvation experiments only to try and inflict propaganda on us and on the world.' Mr David said world leaders should stand up and demand Hamas to unconditionally release the hostages, saying the militants were to blame for the hunger of both Palestinians and the October 7 captives alike. ' They are the ones to starve their own people. They choose who lives, who dies and they are right now using my brother as a bargaining chip, as a pawn in this game,' he said. 'He's dying because of that, and the hostages are dying, and if we will not act now, it will be too late.' Mr David said his brother must be in 'such tremendous pain' all over his body as one by one his bodily systems arrived on the brink of 'collapse'. He said 600 days of torture and torment would make it 'easy' to give up, but his brother was still alive through hope. 'He knows that he's coming back home eventually,' Mr David said. 'I know that he manifests the same thing that I manifest. I know he's dreaming about coming back, hugging my parents, hearing my younger sister's secrets, and playing music with me, as we used to do.'
Sky News AU
14 hours ago
- Sky News AU
‘Defiling our national icon': Sharri Markson rips into ‘vile' Harbour Bridge protestors
Sky News host Sharri Markson can exclusively reveal NSW Police have launched a series of investigations into the Harbour Bridge protesters over death chants, waving terrorist flags, as well as the display of Hamas and Nazi symbols. Police estimated 90,000 demonstrators took part in the 'March for Humanity' through the heart of Sydney, which shut down the Harbour Bridge from 11.30am to about 5pm, although it was originally scheduled to end at 4pm. 'Al Qaeda and ISIS flags, among others, were flown on the Harbour bridge – defiling our national icon,' Ms Markson said. 'Surely our Harbour Bridge, our national icon, can't be legally turned into a platform for banned terror organisations to spread vile propaganda.'
