Israel planning new assault on Gaza after disturbing videos of emaciated hostages kidnapped by Hamas spark global fury
STORM OF IRON Israel planning new assault on Gaza after disturbing videos of emaciated hostages kidnapped by Hamas spark global fury
ISRAEL is gearing up for a new assault on Gaza after horrific hostage videos lit a firestorm across the globe.
Harrowing footage shows two Israeli captives — starved, pale, and broken — suffering in Hamas tunnels.
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Israeli hostage Evyatar David looking weak and malnourished
Credit: AFP
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The 24-year-old is seen digging what he believes is his own grave
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Israeli soldiers are seen in a tunnel that the military says Hamas militants used to attack the Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip
Credit: AP
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Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from the Israeli side of the border on July 31
Credit: EPA
Evyatar David, 24, and Rom Braslavski, 21, were both abducted from the Nova music festival on the deadly October 7 attacks.
Now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the gloves are off.
In a fiery address Sunday night, the PM declared that Israel would press forward with a "decisive military victory" to free the remaining hostages.
Netanyahu again vowed to crush Hamas, which he said was deliberately starving captives in scenes chillingly reminiscent of the Nazi death camps.
Referencing the horror hostage videos, he said: "You see them languishing in a dungeon, but the Hamas monsters surrounding them have thick, fleshy arms.
"They have everything they need to eat. They are starving them, just as the Nazis starved the Jews."
The footage — released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad last week and approved for publication by the families — shows the hostages visibly emaciated, trembling, and close to collapse.
In one heart-wrenching moment, David is seen digging what he believes to be his own grave.
In another, Braslavski cries as he says he has eaten only three crumbs of falafel that day.
His devastated family said in a statement: "They managed to break Rom.
Harrowing moment desperate Gazans overrun food trucks as Israel challenges UN to ship in more aid after pausing fighting
"He has simply been forgotten there."
David's family described their son as a "living skeleton, buried alive" in Hamas's tunnels.
"I haven't eaten for days... I barely got drinking water," David says in the footage.
International fury
The horrifying scenes have prompted an international backlash.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy called the images "sickening," while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron demanded immediate release of the hostages.
The Red Cross described the footage as "stark evidence" of life-threatening conditions and urged immediate access to the captives.
Netanyahu met with the Red Cross delegation head on Sunday, demanding urgent medical and food access to the hostages.
Behind closed doors, Israeli security officials admit they had long known about the hostages' deteriorating condition.
According to Ynet, intelligence briefings warned weeks ago that captors were deliberately withholding food under direct orders —feeding the prisoners just enough to keep them alive.
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Israel is planning a new assault on Gaza after the horrific hostage videos
Credit: EPA
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press forward with a 'decisive military victory'
Credit: Reuters
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Smoke rises from Gaza following an explosion in May
Credit: Reuters
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Palestinians at an aid distribution centre near the Zikim border crossing in Gaza to access limited food on Sunday
Credit: Getty
But the images have had a visceral impact on the Israeli public, and on Netanyahu himself.
The prime minister said: "Like you, I was horrified yesterday. I saw the gruesome videos of our beloved sons, Rom and Evyatar.
"When I see this, I understand exactly what Hamas wants. It does not want a deal. It wants to break us… But we will not break.
"I am filled with even greater resolve to free our hostages, eliminate Hamas and ensure Gaza is never again a threat to the State of Israel."
War cabinet at a crossroads
According to The Times of Israel, Netanyahu is driving a plan for expanded military action - pushing into parts of Gaza previously avoided in hopes of preserving hostages' lives.
But the security cabinet is divided.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Mossad chief David Barnea are reportedly urging caution, while far-right ministers like Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich call for a full-scale reoccupation.
They are starving them, just as the Nazis starved the Jews
Benjamin Netanyahu
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Netanyahu's military secretary are among those backing an expanded war effort now being framed as inevitable in the absence of any viable diplomatic track.
"Hamas is not interested in a deal," a senior Israeli official told Israel Hayom, saying that the group has flatly rejected all proposals, including full hostage release and Gaza demilitarisation.
"Hamas has rejected every deal," said a senior source quoted by Israel Hayom.
"Their refusal is rooted in the belief that starvation of the hostages and international pressure will force Israel to surrender. That cannot be allowed to happen."
As ABC News confirmed through Israeli sources, Netanyahu is now pushing a 'military solution' and coordinating with Washington amid signs the US is no longer willing to back partial hostage deals.
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