JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL
Israel’s Foreign Ministry demanded the immediate release of all hostages on Saturday after Hamas published a video showing Israeli captive Evyatar David in the Gaza Strip.
Ignoring Israel’s systematic policy of starving 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and its deliberate obstruction of the negotiation process, the ministry’s statement focused solely on the Israeli captives in Gaza.
‘Evyatar and all the hostages must be freed IMMEDIATELY and given urgent medical care and proper food. LET THEM GO NOW!’, it said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he spoke to David’s family and another hostage, Rom Braslavski. “The Prime Minister expressed profound shock over the materials distributed by the terror organizations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
“The Prime Minister told the families that the efforts to return all our hostages are ongoing, and will continue constantly and relentlessly.”
Palestinian resistance groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, released footage Friday that showed David and Braslavski, prompting renewed outrage.
Tel Aviv estimates there are 50 Israeli captives in Gaza, 20 of whom are alive, while more than 10,800 Palestinians are held in its prisons, where they face torture, starvation and medical neglect that claimed the lives of many, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, at least 169 Palestinians, including 93 children, have died of hunger-related causes, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since that time, killing more than 60,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombing has destroyed the enclave and led to severe food shortages and deaths by starvation.