Hamas released a disturbing propaganda video showing emaciated Israeli hostage Evyatar David, 24, being forced to dig his own grave, sparking outrage in Israel and across the world. The horrifying footage highlighted once again the terror group’s brutality and its refusal to release the remaining hostages.
In the nearly five-minute video, David is seen trapped inside a narrow tunnel, marking days on a calendar before digging into the dirt with his bare hands. “I haven’t eaten for a few days in a row,” he says, later being handed a single can of beans. “This can is for two days… This whole can is for two days so that I don’t die. This is the grave I think I’m going to be buried in. Time is running out.”
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As reported by the New York Post, David’s family gave permission for the release of the video, saying in a statement: “We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza, a living skeleton, buried alive. The deliberate starvation of our son as part of a propaganda campaign is one of the most horrifying acts the world has seen.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Hamas’s grotesque tactics, declaring, “Hamas terrorists deliberately starve our hostages, documenting them in a cynical, humiliating, and malicious manner.” Holocaust survivor Naftali Fürst said the images took her back to the days of Auschwitz and Buchenwald: “I know hunger up close. In the camps, we were given rations of bread and watery soup. I remember the humiliation, the complete stripping of human dignity.”
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U.S. lawmakers also denounced the terror group. “The chilling video of Hamas hostage Evyatar David is a grotesque reminder of why America must stand with Israel and demand every hostage’s release,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said, adding, “If Hamas released the tortured hostages, this war would end.” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) called the footage “gut-wrenching,” stressing that “we cannot stop until every hostage is home and Hamas is destroyed.”
Even across party lines, the condemnation was strong. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said he could not “begin to imagine the horror of this video” for the David family and demanded Hamas “send these poor souls home, disarm, and end this hell on earth in Gaza.” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) called the video “vile” and laid responsibility for the humanitarian crisis solely on Hamas: “The only entity for the devastation that has been inflicted upon innocent Israelis and Palestinians is Hamas. Period. Full stop.”
The atrocity showcases the cruelty of Hamas, which continues to hold at least 20 living hostages and 30 dead, according to Israeli officials. Despite international pressure, Hamas has shown no willingness to release captives or surrender, instead using human suffering as a weapon to prolong the conflict.
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The families of the hostages, and the hostages themselves, still desperately need the prayers of the world. Let us pray for God’s protection over those still held in captivity, for strength and comfort for their families and for the swift defeat of Hamas so that peace and freedom can return to Israel.
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
