Tel Aviv: Following the release of disturbing videos of Israeli hostages captured by Hamas, who are in grave condition due to hunger and one of them digging their own grave, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide urgent food and medical aid to them. Two of the hostages in the videos were in visibly emaciated condition.
The office of the Prime Minister informed that Netanyahu spoke with ICRC’s regional coordinator, Julien Lerisson, urging the organisation to intervene and help Israeli hostages.
"The prime minister requested his involvement in providing food to our hostages and ensuring their immediate medical treatment," a statement by the office read.
ICRC responded to the videos, saying it was appalled by them. It reiterated that it should be granted permission to access all Israeli hostages.
Hamas’s Al Qassam Brigades released a video of an Israeli hostage, with an emaciated body with bones exposed, digging his own grave inside a narrow tunnel. Hamas intended to remind Israel that its citizens are among the victims of the blockade that is starving Gaza to death by denying it food, water and medicine. The 57-second video shows Evyatar David, one of those taken hostage by Hamas after the attack on October 7, 2023.
Evyatar, who is digging a hole in the narrow tunnel with a pickaxe, explains in Hebrew that he is digging his own grave. He says that every day his body is getting worse, and it is going straight to the grave. It is high time that he is freed so that he can join his family and sleep with them, Eviatar says in a message to Israel and the world, his words trembling in the weakness of hunger. The video ends with him sitting helplessly near a dug pit.