A disturbing propaganda video released by Hamas on Friday has provoked international condemnation, showing 24-year-old Israeli hostage Evyatar David, visibly emaciated, digging what he says is his own grave in a tunnel beneath Gaza. The nearly five-minute video, which world leaders described as “vile” and “unbearable,” has sharpened global demands for the release of remaining hostages held by the terror organization.
“I haven’t eaten for a few days in a row,” David says in the footage. “This can is for two days. This whole can is for two days so that I don’t die. This is the grave I think I’m going to be buried in. Time is running out,” according to The New York Post.
Fair warning, the video is a little hard to stomach.
How psychopathic is Hamas?
It forced starving hostage Evyatar David to DIG HIS OWN GRAVE for the cameras. pic.twitter.com/iMa404St4s
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) August 2, 2025
David’s family, who authorized the video’s public release, responded in anguish. “We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza — a living skeleton, buried alive,” they said. “The deliberate starvation of our son as part of a propaganda campaign is one of the most horrifying acts the world has seen.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the video “cynical, humiliating, and malicious,” stating, “Hamas terrorists deliberately starve our hostages, documenting them in a cynical, humiliating, and malicious manner.”
The footage struck a particular chord with Holocaust survivor Naftali Fürst, who told The Post, “I survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald. I know hunger up close. In the camps, we were given rations of bread and watery soup. We were so hungry, we would even eat grass if we could find it. I remember the humiliation—the complete stripping of human dignity. I know the fear, the terror.”
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who recently met with David’s family, said, “I cannot even begin to imagine the horror of this video for them. I continue to stand with these families and every last hostage. Hamas: send these poor souls home, disarm, and end this hell on earth in Gaza.”
I had the honor to meet with his family in my office. I cannot even begin to imagine the horror of this video for them.
I continue to stand with these families and every last hostage.
Hamas: send these poor souls home, disarm, and end this hell on earth in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/nCMJLQZ4Cl
— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) August 2, 2025
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also denounced the footage, calling the images “vile” and “unbearable,” and urged, “The hostage’s hell must end.” The Frenchman’s words ring hollow, though. Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron rewarded Hamas for these kinds of atrocities by pledging to recognize Palestinian statehood.
The release of the footage comes as negotiations remain deadlocked. Hamas is believed to be holding 20 living hostages and the remains of 30 others. U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, who met with hostages’ families in Tel Aviv on Saturday, acknowledged the mounting frustration: “I hear your frustration. But the situation is complicated. There are many reasons that I cannot detail.” He added, “No piecemeal deals. That doesn’t work. We’ve tried everything,” though emphasized that an end to the war may be “very close.”
Still, Hamas rejected any suggestion that it might disarm, insisting it would continue armed resistance to the existence of Israel.
At a Tel Aviv rally, Evyatar David’s brother, Ilay David, warned the hostages are “on the absolute brink of death,” and urged former President Donald Trump to intervene “by any means necessary.” He added, “To remain silent now is to be complicit in their slow agonizing death.”
As nightly protests in Tel Aviv draw thousands calling for the hostages’ release and an end to the war, President Trump weighed in on Truth Social: “The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!”
The video did not make front-page news in many major liberal outlets like The New York Times, however. The newspaper is currently facing a scandal after it was caught lying about starvation in Gaza by portraying a child being treated for a genetic disorder as being starved by Israel.
Rerun WW2 Death camps now tunnels under Gaza
Worse since hidden from view vs WW2 Camps