Ye’ela David, sister of hostage Evyatar David, responded on Instagram on Friday to a video released by the Hamas terrorist organization showing her brother in severely deteriorated physical condition.
The family has not approved the publication of the video or any still images from it.
“Anyone who saw the video knows the severity and Evyatar’s physical condition, which hit me like a million punches to the stomach,” Ye’ela wrote. She requested that the video not be shared, explaining that their mother and brother had not yet seen it. “They shouldn’t come across an image from there by accident. I’m asking not to publish images from the video until the family and I decide to release it.”
Omer Wenkert, a former hostage who was held in Hamas captivity alongside Evyatar David, also responded to the footage.
In a video posted to Instagram, Wenkert said, “I’m Omer Wenkert. For those who don’t know, I was with Evyatar David for 250 days in Hamas captivity, underground. Today, Hamas released a video of him, of Evyatar. I just saw the video, and now you know too. That’s what the tunnels we lived in looked like. Those are the conditions - everything is narrow, low, small.”
“All of you saw him, you saw how he looks. You saw the hunger, you saw his physical condition. All of you are as worried as I am. The fact that Hamas inserts frames of starving children in between - who I don’t even know if they’re from Gaza or not - is one big lie,” he added.
“I was in a tunnel like that for 505 days. I was there, and while I lost 37 kilos in captivity, I didn’t see my captors lose even one. The starving children in Gaza, who we see, and the whole world talks about famine in Gaza - we all know why there’s hunger. It’s not Israel starving them; it’s Hamas starving them. Hamas is stealing their supplies.”
“Again, I say—37 kilos. I lost 37 kilos, while I had to watch my captors, one by one, not only not lose weight, but some even gained weight,” stated Wenkert.
Former hostage Tal Shoham, who was also held with Evyatar David while in captivity, said in an English-language video, “I want to be really, really clear about it. It's the same tunnel I was held in with Guy Gilboa Dalal and Evyatar David.”
“Just a few meters away, there is an iron door. Behind that door, sit Hamas terrorists, a group of them, eating plenty of food, plenty of vegetables, meat, fish and fruits. They have everything that they need, which they stole from the humanitarian aid that was supposed to be for the people of Gaza,” added Shoham.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid also responded to the release of the footage, writing on X, “Let every government minister watch Evyatar’s video today before going to bed and try to fall asleep while thinking of Evyatar trying to survive in a tunnel.”
Idit Ohel, mother of hostage Alon Ohel, echoed the urgency: “The video of Evyatar David is an SOS call to resume negotiations and save the hostages. I appeal to the Israeli government and to envoy Witkoff to immediately resume negotiations for the release of the hostages and provide immediate treatment for the wounded. Alon is severely injured, has lost an eye, and is in immediate mortal danger. I cry out as a mother - end this nightmare. Bring Alon back to us! Alongside the humanitarian and medical aid entering Gaza, life-saving medical treatment must be provided to Alon and all the hostages. This must happen immediately; this is an SOS call.”
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)