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Economic Times
27 minutes ago
- Economic Times
‘Haven't eaten for days, forced to dig his own grave': Family of Hamas hostage releases ‘propaganda' video with message for Netanyahu
Synopsis The family of Evyatar David, a 24-year-old hostage, released distressing video footage showing his severe starvation in Hamas captivity. The videos, dated July 27 and released August 2, depict David emaciated and documenting his meager meals, often consisting of just lentils or nothing at all. David emotionally appealed to Prime Minister Netanyahu, expressing feeling abandoned. Reuters Demonstrators take part in a protest to demand the immediate release of hostages held in Gaza since the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas and to end the war, in Tel Aviv, Israel, August 2, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad A video footage of a 24-year-old hostage, Evyatar David, was released by his family in which he was seen starving for food and facing severe hardships. It was the second 'propaganda video,' which was made public a day after Hamas published what it claimed was a 'sign of life' from the captive. The initial footage, which was posted Friday (August 1, 2025), was released with the consent of the family and was confirmed by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum a day the video, David appears severely emaciated, his bones protruding beneath his skin, according to Ynet News. He appears to be sitting in a tunnel, documenting his daily meals on a handwritten chart. On some days, it says 'no food,' and on others, just 'lentils.' The family on Saturday (August 2, 2025) also released a second video dated July 27, in which David, visibly weakened and gaunt, says he has been without proper food or water for an extended period and claims he was forced by his captors to dig his own grave. The family of the hostage released a second video on Saturday, August 2, 2025, dated July 27. In the footage, David, looking frail and thin, says he's gone a long time without proper food or water and claims his captors forced him to dig his own grave.'I don't know what I'm going to eat. I haven't eaten in days,' he said, as quoted by Ynet News. 'I've been living in a really difficult situation and have been for many months,' he further stated. Even though his captors likely dictated his words, David's appearance clearly shows his health is declining. 'I'm getting thinner and weaker by the day,' he said in the video. 'No meat, no chicken, no fish. Almost no bread. On Friday, July 4, I didn't eat anything. I'm writing everything down,' he added, referring to the food chart. David was seen reading aloud from the chart in the footage: 'Lentils, lentils, beans. On July 16 and 17, I ate nothing—two days in a row. Then more lentils, again lentils. On July 20, nothing again. Then lentils, and again nothing. Then again nothing, and again nothing. This can is for two days, just to keep me alive.' While addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly, David made an emotional appeal, saying that he feels that he has been abandoned. 'I feel that I have been abandoned... I've been told that in Israel, the government cares for prisoners and cares for anyone imprisoned by the enemy. I feel that I have been abandoned by you and this government,' he said. 'Everything I was taught was simply not true,' he added, as quoted by Ynet News.'What I'm doing now is digging my own grave,' he adds. 'Each day, my body grows weaker and weaker. I'm walking directly to my grave. This is the grave where I think I'm going to be buried. Time is running out. You are the only ones who can end this, [so I can] be released and be able to sleep in my bed with my family.'In a strong statement against Hamas, David's family accused it of intentionally starving him for propaganda purposes. 'We are forced to witness our beloved Evyatar, our son and brother, being deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas tunnels in Gaza. He is a living skeleton, buried alive,' the statement said. 'Our son has only days left to live in his current state. Hamas is using Evyatar as a live experiment in a grotesque hunger campaign.'The family called the alleged starvation campaign 'one of the most horrifying acts the world has seen,' as quoted by and appealed to Israel and the international community to intervene. 'Israel and the international community must stand against Hamas' cruelty and ensure Evyatar receives immediate nutrition,' they said. 'This intentional starvation and abuse for propaganda purposes violates even the lowest standards of humanitarian law and basic human decency.'
United News of India
27 minutes ago
- United News of India
Iran's IRGC slams efforts for two-state solution to Israel-Palestine conflict, condemns killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh
Tehran, Aug 2 (UNI) Iran's powerful paramilitary group – the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – has slammed efforts to promote a two-state solution for the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict, a few days after a UN conference co-chaired by Saudi Arabi pushed for the solution. 'These satanic efforts are prescribing a two-state solution to end the Palestinian issue,' the IRGC said in a statement, marking the first anniversary of the Israeli killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. 'But the resistance remains firm on the path of martyr Haniyeh and others,' reports Iran International. Stating that the solution lies not in compromise but active resistance, the IRGC, quoting a Hamas slogan attributed to Haniyeh declared 'We don't recognise Israel – never, never, never.' A two-state solution was discussed in a UN session in New York from July 28-30, 2025, aimed at resolving the conflict. The conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, aimed to revitalise efforts towards a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, with a focus on achieving a just and lasting peace. However, Iran's long-held position on the matter refuses to recognise any form of compromise on the issue, and has called for the creation of a sovereign Palestine from the ashes of Israel. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had called for the total destruction of the Jewish state within 25 years back in 2015. The IRGC's statement described Tel Aviv's war with Hamas in Gaza as a full-fledged genocide, claiming that it was carried out with the broader aim of seizing the strategic and resource-rich regions of the Islamic world. 'Those who engineered the genocide in Gaza are undoubtedly pursuing larger goals—the swallowing of the Muslim world's rich and strategic regions,' it said. 'But with God's help, the breaking of global silence and the surge of anti-Zionist international protest will shatter the hopes and ambitions of the Zionist-American criminal band, which must now await the unmasking of its hidden fate.' It also condemned the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran, which occurred while he was in the city for Iran's presidential inauguration. The IRGC credited continued Palestinian resistance to what it called the legacy of Haniyeh and other slain leaders of the anti-Israel struggle. 'The Aqsa Storm was not a passing event but a strategic doctrine sealed by the blood of martyrs,' it said, referencing the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. UNI XC ANV GNK
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
To secure US trade deal, key ministries told to list what they can bring to talks table
FOLLOWING US President Donald Trump's tariff sledgehammer, the government has kicked off an exercise to thrash out concessions across sectors that can be offered in the tariff negotiations later this month. Key economic ministries have been asked to see what they can still afford to offer to sweeten New Delhi's deal when the US team is here on August 25. To reach an agreement, the Trump administration has been demanding much more than what the government has offered in its market access commitments, including lowering of tariffs across the board and removal of non-tariff trade barriers. As policymakers grapple with Trump's announcement of a 25 per cent tariff on goods from August 7, alongside an additional but unspecified 'penalty' for its defence and energy imports from Russia, economic ministries have started sending in sectoral tariff concessions in their jurisdictions. There are indications oil refiners have started reducing Russian oil purchases. Some of these concessions, if calibrated well, could ensure an opening up of the domestic economy, sources aware of discussions at the highest levels told The Indian Express. In fact, it was an external crisis that had forced the reforms of 1991. Most importantly, the sources said, an unnecessary show of bravado in countering some of Trump's assertions, however ridiculous they may be, should be avoided. India was one of the first countries the Trump administration had expected to sign a deal with, but slow progress has been a source of frustration for Washington DC. Like countries around the world scrambling to deal with Trump's tariff threats, India had largely adopted a principled, but non-confrontational, stance in an attempt to balance selective concessions with caution to safeguard its economic growth, and circumvent a backlash from domestic producers. Sources closely tracking the US talks with others said a majority of the countries that rushed to sign deals with the world's biggest economy ended up with lopsided agreements that effectively extracted more than what it gave. This includes the UK and Australia that have a trade deficit with the US. On talks with New Delhi, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC Thursday: 'Well, I don't know what's going to happen; it will be up to India. India came to the table early. They have been slow-rolling things, so I think that the President, the whole trade team is frustrated with them. And also, India has been a large buyer of sanctioned Russian oil, that they then resell as refined products. So, they have not been a great global actor'. The assumption in New Delhi has always been that Washington DC will maintain a differential of 10-20 per cent in tariffs between China and India; and that the Americans would be cognizant of India's traditional redlines that have endured for decades, including concerns over GM food crops and the need to safeguard the interest of the vast subsistence-level manufacturing base that has an oversized contribution to labour-intensive exports. The government is also keen to stay away from offering duty concessions on imports of agri items such as soybean, corn and dairy, in the interim deal. While the government has offered to cut tariffs on 55 per cent of US imports, this could be pushed up in the upcoming talks, given that in FTAs with Japan, Korea, and ASEAN, over 80 per cent of tariff lines were down to zero. Sources said the outer limit for a deal with the US, currently pegged at around October, could be brought forward, if fresh negotiations are positive. What complicates the equation for India is that the Chinese are at an advanced stage of negotiations towards a deal, which could have a favourable tariff rate and potential waivers on secondary tariffs, including possibly the tariff on account of Russian oil imports and the proposed 10 per cent BRICS tariff. China is currently faced with a 30 per cent tariff. From New Delhi's perspective, a deal needs to be clinched precisely for ensuring the gap in tariffs between India and China is maintained, even with a limited early-harvest type of deal. There is, however, greater receptiveness now within the policy circles to cut tariffs on some industrial goods, especially intermediate goods where there is the twin problem of high duties and an inverted duty structure (duty being higher on inputs than on final products). Alongside, there is a willingness to grant concessions in sectors such as public procurement and agri provided these are matched by the other side, like in the case of the UK deal. Also, India is willing to import more from the US, especially in three big-ticket sectors – defence equipment, fossil fuels and nuclear – to manage Trump's constant references to the trade gap, the sources said. Tariff rebalancing, if done right, could potentially offer an impetus to the economy, given that the biggest beneficiaries of tariff protection, especially the non-tariff barriers such as an increasing array of QCOs (quality control orders), are the big players. MSME units have been calling for these QCOs to be removed, especially in areas such as steel and textiles. Since 1991, New Delhi has gradually reduced its average tariff from nearly 79 per cent in 1990 to around 12 per cent in 2013, following which it has gone back up to 16-17 per cent by 2023. Sectors such as agriculture, dairy and automobiles, continue to be protected, even as the Ministry of Commerce and industry maintains that its trade measures are WTO compliant. Unlike its response during Trump's first term, where retaliatory tariffs were imposed, New Delhi has desisted from retaliating and is working on strategic concessions in sectors that the US is keen to target, while adhering to its own broad red lines. This involves areas symbolic of trade openness, including nuclear energy, fossil fuels and defence procurement. Think tanks such as Delhi-based Global Trade Research Initiative have said that by refusing to cross its red lines, particularly on agriculture, India has helped avoid 'the trap of a one-sided deal'. Once the official level discussions wrap up, there is a sense that a final call on the deal could come down to a conversation between the two leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trump. This is especially so since it is Trump who is the trade negotiator-in-chief. For India, the best-case scenario would be to get a deal of some sort now, and then build on that in the future negotiations that could run into 2026, experts said. With Trump announcing the tariffs and penalties on India, that phone call could come in sooner, they said. Anil Sasi is National Business Editor with the Indian Express and writes on business and finance issues. He has worked with The Hindu Business Line and Business Standard and is an alumnus of Delhi University. ... Read More
