‘Bring my little brother home’: Brother of Israeli hostage in Hamas video urges world leaders to ‘act before it’s too late’
Warning: This article contains content that some may find disturbing
The brother of an Israeli hostage being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip has urged world leaders to pressure Hamas and 'bring my little brother home'.
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On Saturday, the terror group released a propaganda video of Evyatar David looking weak and emaciated inside a narrow concrete tunnel.
In the video, Evyatar, 24 can seen digging with a shovel - at one point, telling the camera "I am digging my own grave".
His brother, Ilay David, addressed the UN via a video link on Tuesday evening, telling world leaders the "time for deliberation has run out."
"Their lives depend on immediate action," he said. "We call on you to rescue them from Hamas dungeons underground.
"Second, we must call for humanitarian aid to reach the hostages. While aid flows into Gaza to help the population, the hostages are being denied even the most basic necessities of life. They haven't received a shred of humanitarian aid since they were captive. This is a flagrant violation of international law."
A 40 second edit of the Hamas-published video was released by Evyatar's family, with the hostage describing lengthy periods without food, as he points with a pen towards a chart he has kept on the wall.
He then goes on to talk viewers through prominent days marked down - notably those upon which he received food, with his hunger echoing that of so many of Gaza's residents struggling to obtain aid amid recent blockades in the region.
"And third, we must recognise that this is a matter of life and death requiring urgent medical intervention," Ilay told the meeting of the UN's Security Council.
"Evyatar needs immediate access to proper food and life saving medical care. Every moment of delay is a step closer to a final, tragic outcome. We all have responsibility to the leaders of the world, to every member of this council, and to the global community.
"Your silence is the face of this monstruous cruelty, its complicity. I urge you, do not let them die. We don't have time. Do not let them spend another minute in darkness, suffering beyond imagination, while we do our part demanding from the Israeli government to do everything to save the hostages.
"All pressure. All leaders should unite to pressure Hamas and its partners. Act now, before it's too late. Save Evyatar. Bring my little brother home. Thank you."
During the meeting, the Palestinian envoy to the UN said Israel is "holding Gaza captive."
Riyad Mansour condemned the "inhuman acts" by Hamas and criticised the videos released by the group.
But he also accuses Israel of "holding two million people captive in Gaza", and accuses Israel committing a genocide - which they deny.
Mansour addressed the Israeli people, saying "Your government wants you to believe the whole world is conspiring against you, that Palestinian people [are] terrorists, that the UN is filled with terrorists."
He added that Netanyahu's government "wants you to believe survival depends on your ability to wage wars, including against a defenceless civilian population".
"We are clear what Israel did before October 7 cannot justify harming Israeli civilians on October 7," he said.
"And what Hamas did on October 7 cannot justify harming Palestinian civilians ever since."
He then repeated twice: "Enough bloodshed, enough wars, enough suffering, enough occupation."
On Monday, his cousin warned LBC he thinks Evyatar only has "days left".
Matan Eshet said the sickening video of Evyatar made his family feel "broken" and that his cousin resembles a "skeleton".
He told Tom Swarbrick on Monday evening: "It made us feel broken and it felt like terror invaded our own home again.
Evyatar - then 23 - was taken from the Nova Music festival by Hamas on October 7 2023, with the terror group continuing to hold him captive at an unknown location somewhere under Gaza.
'Broken'
When describing the video, Matan said: "I don't know if I can put it into words.
"It made us feel broken and it felt like terror invaded our own home again.
"If we had a glimpse of hope that he's being treated with some sort of respect, a tiny amount of it... we saw that for him he's an experiment, he's a tool to be used in a propaganda war they have been doing for some time."
'Skeleton'
When asked if the family had had any contact with Evyatar, Matan responded saying they hadn't.
"None of the hostage families have any contact with their loved ones.
"They don't want us to know the conditions of the loved ones, except when they show videos where they tell them what to say and what to do.
"Only 150 days ago, when the first video of Evyatar was released, we got to see how he looks and we saw at least until that point, we discovered at least until that point he is being held with his best friend Guy Gilboa Dalal.
"We have no knowledge of his physical or medical conditions.
He added all the families have is testimonies of hostages who have been returned.
"From watching the video and seeing Evyatar went from a young, joyful loving life kind of person to a skeleton that hasn't seen the light of day, that hasn't seen decent treatment for two years."
When probed on whether the Israeli government's response to getting the hostages released, Matan replied: "I don't know what the right way is [...] I hope that my government is doing whatever she can, they have much more knowledge and intelligence.
"We don't know what's going on. We only get information from the news and we hope they are doing whatever they can."
Matan confirmed his belief that a negotiated ceasefire would be the best way to ensure Evyatar's release.
He told Swarbrick: "Yes of course, there is no safer or more successful way ....The problem is this is not just a regular kind of deal."
He went on: "I think if we decide to recognise a Palestinian state, it might be a way....but in the end, the most important thing is to get Evyatar home and all the other hostages back home.
"I don't really care about politics right now or what might happen right now...I want to get my cousin back home...
"I think he is in a terrible condition, I think he has days left, and whatever is needed must be done."
The David family said in a statement on Saturday: "We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza".
