Who Is Evyatar David? Harrowing Hamas Video Shows 'Living Skeleton' In Gaza, Israel PM Netanyahu Slams 'Nazi-Like Abuse'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) An armed wing of Palestinian militant group Hamas released a video of 24-year-old Evyatar David on Saturday, triggering protests at Tel Aviv's "Hostage Square".

The videos were released as ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled, and Palestinians in Gaza face a mounting starvation crisis.

'Disturbing video'

The videos, released by militant groups Hamas and the Palestinians, showed Israeli hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski in a visibly fragile state.

In the 40-second clip, David looked skeletal and weak in a narrow concrete tunnel, for the second night in a row. The undated footage of David is juxtaposed with images of starving Palestinian children.

According to the New York Post, Evyatar David was forced to dig a grave by Hamas leaders. In the video, David said he hasn't eaten in days. "This is the grave where I think I am going to be buried," he reportedly said in the video.

His family authorised the release of this harrowing footage.

'Living skeleton'

David's family, according to the New York Post, said in a statement sent to the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters,“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."

"Hamas is using our son as a live experiment in a vile hunger campaign. The deliberate starvation of our son as part of a propaganda campaign is one of the most horrifying acts the world has seen," David's family was quoted by news agency AFP as saying.

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, as a video released by Hamas of hostage Evyatar David is displayed, in Tel Aviv, Israel, August 2, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES TPX IMAGES OF THE DAYWho is Evyatar David?

Evyatar David was reportedly abducted, along with his friend Gal Gilboa-Dalal, during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. that sparked the Gaza war. Both had been attending the Nova music festival in southern Israel.

They were among 44 festival-goers seized. Palestinian militants killed 370. Of the 251 hostages taken during the Hamas attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27, the Israeli military says, are dead.

In late February, Hamas had released a video showing David and Gilboa-Dalal being held inside a vehicle and forced to watch a hostage release ceremony a short distance away, AFP reported.

Starvation

Israeli restrictions on the entry of goods and aid into Gaza have reportedly led to severe shortages of food and other essentials, stoking international demands for a ceasefire.

Hamas has included this issue in their hostage videos, warning that the hostages are going hungry alongside their captors and that time is running out for a ceasefire.

However, the Israel military has the allegation of "deliberate starvation". On July 23, Israel's Foreign Ministry released a purported video showing“Hamas terrorists...boasting about full meals in their tunnels, far from the suffering above and stocked with items not from humanitarian aid.”

Protests and outrage

The appalling video sparked outrage in Israel and across the globe .

Thousands flooded the Israeli streets, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make a deal for the hostages after Hamas showed footage of the emaciated captive underground.

Benjamin Netanyahu reacts: 'Cruelty of Hamas'

Meanwhile, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he spoke with the families of Hamas hostages Rom Braslavsky and Evyatar David.

"I expressed to them my deep shock at the harsh footage published by the Hamas terror organisation. I told them in the clearest way – we are continuing the effort to bring back all the hostages, relentlessly, with determination, and without tire," he said in a post on X.

Netanyahu said the "cruelty of Hamas knows no bounds."

"While the State of Israel allows the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, Hamas terrorists deliberately starve our hostages, documenting them in a cynical, humiliating, and malicious manner," he added.

"They also deliberately starve the residents of the Strip," Netanyahu alleged. "They prevent aid from reaching them, and then lie to the world and conduct a false propaganda campaign against Israel," he said.

Netanyahu called on all the countries of the world – stand against this “Nazi-like abuse. Do not stand by. This is a moral test.”

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