Hamas release video of emaciated Israeli hostage Evyatar David held in tunnels beneath Gaza
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Hamas has released footage showing Israeli hostage Evyatar David appearing gaunt and emaciated, as he continues to be held by the terrorist group.
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The propaganda video, released by the group on Saturday, shows the 24-year-olds skeletal figure in what appears to be tunnels beneath Gaza.
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.
Evyatar is also seen to dig with a shovel - at one point, telling the camera "I am digging my own grave".
The Israeli hostage was taken from the Nova Music festival by the terrorist group on October 7 2023, with Hamas continuing to hold him captive at an unknown location.
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The footage coincides with a staunch statement released by Hamas, in which the group insisted they 'will not disarm until an independent Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital'.
The statement followed comments from US envoy Steve Witkoff, claiming [Hamas] has "shown willingness to disarm"
It's the second video to be released by the group in recent days, with an initial 40 second video edit released by his family on Friday after the 90 second video was released by Hamas.
It shows David but does not feature any speech.
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'
Later in the footage, he can be seen grinning as he is handed a can of lentils by his captors.
He adds: "This can is for 2 days, just to keep me alive."
Hamas called Mr Witkoff's trip to a US aid distribution centre "nothing more than a premeditated staged show" on Saturday.
The terror group's statement came after three major global powers indicated they were going to recognise a Palestinian state in the coming months.
The UK has indicated that it will recognise a Palestinian state as soon as September should there not be a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas which began on October 7, 2023.
