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The family of Israeli hostage Evyatar David, held by Hamas in Gaza since their bloody attack in Israel on 7 October 2023, has accused the group of deliberately starving him as part of a "propaganda campaign".
The family statement came after Hamas released a video showing an emaciated Mr David in a narrow concrete tunnel.
"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," the family statement said.
The hostage's family also urged the Israeli government and the world community to do "everything possible to save Evyatar".
Hamas released its second video in two days of Mr David over the weekend. In it, Mr David, who is very thin, is shown digging a hole, which, he says in the video, is for his own grave.
Mr David is heard saying: "I haven't eaten for days... I barely got drinking water"
"They are on the absolute brink of death," David's brother Ilay said at a rally in support of the hostages in Tel Aviv on Saturday, where thousands gathered holding posters of those in captivity and chanted for their immediate release.
"In the current unimaginable condition, they may have only days left to live."
Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa'ar said the "world cannot remain silent in the face of the difficult images that are the result of deliberate sadistic abuse of the hostages, which also includes starvation".
Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has told families of hostages that he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would effectively end the war in Gaza.
Trump has made ending the conflict a major priority of his administration, though negotiations have faltered. Mr Witkoff is visiting Israel as its government faces mounting pressure over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the enclave.
In a recording of the meeting, reviewed by Reuters, Mr Witkoff is heard saying: "We have a very, very good plan that we're working on collectively with the Israeli government, with Prime Minister Netanyahu ... for the reconstruction of Gaza. That effectively means the end of the war."
Mr Witkoff also said that Hamas was prepared to disarm in order to end the war, though the group has repeatedly said it will not lay down its weapons.
In response, Hamas, which has dominated Gaza since 2007, said it would not relinquish "armed resistance" unless an "independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital" was established.
Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel aimed at securing a 60-day ceasefire in the Gaza war and deal for the release of half the hostages ended last week in deadlock.
Mr Witkoff, who arrived in Israel with Benjamin Netanyahu's government facing a global outcry over the devastation in Gaza and the starvation growing among its 2.2 million people, met the prime minister on Thursday.
Afterwards, a senior Israeli official said an understanding between Israel and Washington was emerging that there was a need to move from a plan to release some of the hostages to a plan to release all the hostages, disarm Hamas and demilitarise the Gaza Strip, echoing Israel's key demands for ending the war.
On Tuesday, Qatar and Egypt, who are mediating ceasefire efforts, endorsed a declaration by France and Saudi Arabia outlining steps toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As part of it, they said Hamas must hand over its arms to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.
The crisis in Gaza has also prompted a string of Western powers to announce they may recognise a Palestinian state.
On Friday, Witkoff visited a U.S.-backed aid operation in southern Gaza, which the United Nations has partly blamed for deadly conditions in the enclave, saying he sought to get food and other aid to people there.
Dozens have died of malnutrition in recent weeks after Israel cut off all supplies to the enclave for nearly three months from March to May, according to Gaza's health ministry. It said on Saturday that it had recorded seven more fatalities, including a child, since Friday.
Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza and says it is taking steps for more aid to reach its population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, air drops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.
UN agencies have said that airdrops of food are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and quickly ease the access to it.
The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in an attack on southern Israel on 7 October 7, 2023. Israel's offensive has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
Reuters
