Famine is here: Gaza starvation crisis deepens as Hamas releases video of emaciated Israeli hostage
UN warns of unfolding famine as hostage’s family says Hamas is using hunger as a weapon
New Delhi: As food supplies in Gaza dwindle and UN-backed experts warn that famine is no longer a looming threat but a present reality, Hamas has released a chilling video of Israeli hostage Evyatar David, skeletal, barely conscious, and digging what he called his “own grave.”
The video, released on Friday, has triggered global outrage, not only over the condition of the 24-year-old but also the wider humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, where both civilians and captives are enduring extreme deprivation.
“I haven’t eaten for days… I barely got drinking water,” David says in a faint voice, shown in a dimly lit tunnel. “Every day my body becomes weaker. I’m walking directly to my grave.”
His family has accused Hamas of using starvation as a deliberate tactic. “We are witnessing a living skeleton buried alive,” they said, calling it part of a cynical campaign that exploits both hostages and starving Palestinians for propaganda.
The footage follows weeks of warnings from aid agencies about deteriorating food security in Gaza. UN experts say the "worst-case scenario of famine" is now taking shape, with limited humanitarian aid making it past border crossings and airdrops proving grossly inadequate.
In recent weeks, Hamas has referenced Gaza’s starvation in hostage videos, seemingly to draw a parallel between the plight of Palestinian civilians and Israeli captives. The latest footage of David comes just a day after Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a video of another hostage, Rom Braslavski.
Evyatar David was among 251 people abducted during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel. Nearly two years later, 49 hostages are still believed to be held.
Rallies erupted in Tel Aviv following the video’s release, with families of hostages demanding immediate international intervention. “Our brothers are turning into skin and bones,” said Einav Zangauker, whose son is also held in Gaza.
Ceasefire negotiations remain stalled. Israel demands the unconditional release of all hostages, while Hamas refuses to disarm without recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state.
US envoy Steve Witkoff, after meeting hostage families, claimed the Trump team could broker a comprehensive deal. “No more piecemeal arrangements,” he said.
David’s family has pleaded for the humanitarian aid entering Gaza to also reach hostages. “The thought of his hunger and pain haunts my every moment,” said his brother Ilay.
As Gaza starves, so do the captives. Both have become human symbols of a war with no end in sight.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
