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Netanyahu reacts to Hamas hostage video, says he is in 'profound shock'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed 'profound shock' over videos showing two emaciated hostages in Gaza, with the EU also denouncing the clips on Sunday and demanding the release of all remaining captives after nearly 22 months of war.
Over the past few days, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have released three videos showing two hostages seized during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.
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The images of Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David have sparked strong reactions among Israelis, fuelling renewed calls to reach a truce and hostage release deal without delay.
A statement from Netanyahu's office late Saturday said he had spoken with the families of the two hostages and 'expressed profound shock over the materials distributed by the terror organisations'.
Netanyahu 'told the families that the efforts to return all our hostages are ongoing', the statement added.
Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of people had rallied in the coastal hub of Tel Aviv to urge Netanyahu's government to secure the release of the remaining captives.
In the clips shared by the Palestinian Islamist groups, 21-year-old Braslavski, a German-Israeli dual national, and 24-year-old David both appear weak and malnourished.
There was particular outrage in Israel over images of David who appeared to be digging what he said in the staged video was his own grave.
The videos make references to the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned a 'famine is unfolding'.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the images 'are appalling and expose the barbarity of Hamas', calling for the release of 'all hostages… immediately and unconditionally'.
'Hamas must disarm'
Kallas said in the same post on X that 'Hamas must disarm and end its rule in Gaza' – demands endorsed earlier this week by Arab countries, including key mediators Qatar and Egypt.
She added that 'large-scale humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach those in need'.
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Israel has heavily restricted the entry of aid into Gaza, which was already under blockade for 15 years before the war began.
UN agencies, aid groups and analysts say that much of the trickle of food aid that Israel allows in is looted by gangs or diverted in chaotic circumstances rather than reaching those most in need.
Many desperate Palestinians are left to risk their lives under fire seeking what aid is distributed through controlled channels.
On Sunday, Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli fire killed nine Palestinians who were waiting to collect food rations from a site operated by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Israeli attacks elsewhere killed another 10 people on Sunday, said civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal.
'Emaciated and desperate'
Israeli newspapers dedicated their front pages on Sunday to the plight of the hostages, with Maariv decrying 'hell in Gaza' and Yedioth Ahronoth showing a 'malnourished, emaciated and desperate' David.
Left-leaning Haaretz declared that 'Netanyahu is in no rush' to rescue the captives, echoing claims by critics that the longtime leader has prolonged the war for his own political survival.
In his conversations with Braslavski and David's families on Saturday, Netanyahu accused Hamas of 'deliberately starving our hostages', and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was 'initiating a special UN Security Council meeting on the issue of the Israeli hostages'.
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Braslavski and David are among the 49 hostages taken during Hamas's 2023 attack who are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Most of the 251 hostages seized in the attack have been released during two short-lived truces in the war, some in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody.
- Red Crescent says HQ hit -
Hamas's 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures.
Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed at least 60,430 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said in a post on X early Sunday that one of its staff members was killed and three others wounded in an Israeli attack on its Khan Yunis headquarters, in southern Gaza.
There was no comment from Israel. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties.
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Overnight from Saturday to Sunday, Israel's military said it had 'most likely intercepted' a rocket launched from southern Gaza.
Meanwhile, in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, firebrand National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said he had prayed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, where his repeated visits are seen as a provocation to many Palestinians.
The mosque is Islam's third-holiest site, and is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount, though Jews are barred from praying there under a long-standing convention.
In a video statement recorded during his visit – Ben Gvir said 'the response to Hamas's horror videos' should include Gaza's occupation and plans for the 'voluntary emigration' of its people.
Jordan, which acts as the site's custodian, condemned the minister's visit as 'an unacceptable provocation, and a reprehensible escalation'.
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News18
40 minutes ago
- News18
Gaza aid truck drivers face increasing danger from desperate crowds, armed gangs
Agency: PTI Deir al-Balah, Aug 5 (AP) Truck drivers trying to deliver aid inside Gaza say their work has become increasingly dangerous in recent months as people have grown desperately hungry and violent gangs have filled a power vacuum left by the territory's Hamas rulers. Crowds of hungry people routinely rip aid off the backs of moving trucks, the local drivers said. Some trucks are hijacked by armed men working for gangs who sell the aid in Gaza's markets for exorbitant prices. Israeli troops often shoot into the chaos, they said. Drivers have been killed in the mayhem. Since March, when Israel ended a ceasefire in its war with Hamas and halted all imports, the situation has grown increasingly dire in the territory of some 2 million Palestinians. International experts are now warning of a 'worst-case scenario of famine" in Gaza. Under heavy international pressure, Israel last week announced measures to let more aid into Gaza. Though aid groups say it's still not enough, getting even that amount from the border crossings to the people who need it is difficult and extremely dangerous, the drivers said. Driving aid trucks can be deadly Thousands of people packed around the road Monday as two trucks entered southern Gaza, AP video showed. Young men overwhelmed the trucks, standing on the cabs' roofs, dangling from the sides and clambering over each other onto the truck beds to grab boxes even as the trucks slowly kept driving. 'Some of my drivers are scared to go transfer aid because they're concerned about how they'll untangle themselves from large crowds of people," said Abu Khaled Selim, vice president of the Special Transport Association, a nonprofit group that works with private transportation companies across the Gaza Strip and advocates for truck drivers' rights. Selim said his nephew, Ashraf Selim, a father of eight, was killed July 29 by a stray bullet when Israeli forces opened fire on crowds climbing onto the aid truck he was driving. Shifa Hospital officials said they received his body with an apparent gunshot to the head. The Israeli military said it was unaware of the incident and that 'as a rule" it does not carry out deliberate attacks on aid trucks. Earlier in the war, aid deliveries were safer because, with more food getting into Gaza, the population was less desperate. Hamas-run police had been seen securing convoys and went after suspected looters and merchants who resold aid at exorbitant prices, Now, 'with the situation unsecured, everything is permissible," said Selim, who appealed for protection so the aid trucks could reach warehouses. The UN does not accept protection from Israeli forces, saying it would violate its rules of neutrality, and said that given the urgent need for aid it would accept that hungry people were going to grab food off the back of the trucks as long as they weren't violent. Flooding Gaza with renewed aid would ease the desperation and make things safer for the drivers, said Juliette Touma, communications director at UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. The danger for drivers is growing Ali al-Derbashi, 22, was an aid truck driver for more than a year and a half, but he quit after his last trip three weeks ago because of the increasing danger, he said. Some people taking aid off the trucks are now carrying cleavers, knives and axes, he said. He was once ambushed and forcibly redirected to an area designated by Israel as a conflict zone in its war against Hamas. There everything was stolen, including his truck's fuel and batteries, and his tires were shot out, he said. He was beaten and his phone was stolen. 'We put our lives in danger for this. We leave our families for two or three days every time. And we don't even have water or food ourselves," he said. In addition to the danger, the drivers faced humiliation from Israeli forces, he said, who put them through 'prolonged searches, unclear instructions, and hours of waiting." The war began October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 others. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to the latest figures by Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians and operates under the Hamas government. The threats come from everywhere Nahed Sheheibr, head of the Special Transport Association, said the danger for the drivers comes from everywhere. He accused Israel of detaining drivers and using them as human shields. The Israeli military did not comment on the accusation. In recent days, men linked to a violent Gaza clan fired at drivers, injuring one, and looted a convoy of 14 trucks, he said. They later looted a convoy of 10 trucks. Hossni al-Sharafi, who runs a trucking company and was an aid driver himself, said he is only allowed to use drivers who have no political affiliation and have been approved by Israel to transport aid from crossings. Al-Sharafi said he was detained by Israeli forces for more than 10 days last year while transporting aid from the southern Kerem Shalom crossing and interrogated about where the truck was headed and how the aid was being distributed. Israeli officials did not comment on the accusations. Some drivers spoke of being shot at repeatedly by armed gangs. Others said their trucks were routinely picked clean — even of the wooden pallets— by waves of desperate people, many of whom were fighting each other for the food, while Israeli troops were shooting. Hungry families who miss out on the aid throw stones at the trucks in anger. Anas Rabea said the moment he pulled out of the Zikkim crossing last week his aid truck was overwhelmed by a crowd. 'Our instructions are to stop, because we don't want to run anyone over," he said. 'It's crazy. You have people climbing all over the cargo, over the windows. It's like you're blind, you can't see out." After the crowd had stripped everything, he drove another few hundred metres and was stopped by an armed gang that threatened to shoot him. They searched the truck and took a bag of flour he had saved for himself, he said. 'Every time we go out, we get robbed," he said. 'It's getting worse day by day." (AP) GRS GRS (This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - PTI) view comments First Published: August 05, 2025, 21:30 IST News agency-feeds Gaza aid truck drivers face increasing danger from desperate crowds, armed gangs Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Trump again threatens 'very substantial' tariff hikes for India over Russian oil
By Andrea Shalal and Aftab Ahmed Trump again threatens 'very substantial' tariff hikes for India over Russian oil WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI -U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would increase the tariff charged on imports from India from the current rate of 25% "very substantially" over the next 24 hours, in view of New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil. He also said a "zero tariff" offer for imports of U.S. goods into India was not good enough, alleging that India was "fuelling the war" in Ukraine. Trump's threat to India over its purchases of Russian oil started on July 31, when he announced a 25% tariff for Indian goods, along with an unspecified penalty. "They're fuelling the war machine, and if they're going to do that, then I'm not going to be happy," Trump told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday, adding that the main sticking point with India was that its tariffs were too high. "Now, I will say this, India went from the highest tariffs ever. They will give us zero tariffs, and they're going to let us go in. But that's not good enough, because of what they're doing with oil, not good." An Indian government source said that India's purchases of Russian oil have helped to stabilise global oil prices by easing the pressure on supplies from other regions. India, the world's third biggest oil importer and consumer, buys more than a third of the oil it needs from Russia. "If we stop buying Russian oil, who will replace those barrels to maintain balance and at the same time prevent the prices from shooting up? We don't want a repeat of 2022 when prices shot up to $137 a barrel," the source said, referring to the oil market spike around the time when Moscow's invasion of Ukraine began. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the source was not authorised to speak to the media. Trump's latest comment followed a similar threat on Monday, which prompted India's Foreign Ministry to say the country was being unfairly singled out over its purchases of Russian oil. "It is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia ," it said in a statement issued late on Monday. "It is unjustified to single out India," it added. The EU conducted 67.5 billion euros worth of trade with Russia in 2024, including record imports of liquefied natural gas that totalled 16.5 million metric tons, the Indian ministry said. The United States continues to import Russian uranium hexafluoride for use in its nuclear power industry, palladium, fertilisers and chemicals, it added, without giving a source for the export information. The U.S. embassy and the EU's delegation in New Delhi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Both the United States and EU have reduced their trade ties with Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. SUDDEN RIFT India imported about 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil from January to June this year, up 1% from a year ago, according to data provided to Reuters by trade sources. It has faced pressure from the West to distance itself from Russia over the Ukraine war. New Delhi has resisted, citing its longstanding ties with Moscow and economic needs. India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is likely to go ahead with a scheduled visit to Russia this week, two government sources said. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar is expected to visit in the coming weeks. The sudden rift between India and the U.S. has been deepening since July 31. Trump has said that from Friday he will impose new sanctions on Russia as well as on countries that buy its energy exports, unless Moscow takes steps to end the war with Ukraine. The trade tensions have caused concern about the potential impact on India's economy. The equity benchmark BSE Sensex .BSESN closed down 0.38%, while the rupee dropped 0.17% versus the dollar. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
News18
an hour ago
- News18
Netanyahu Set To Unveil New War Plan, May Order 'Total Conquest Of Gaza' Gaza Ceasefire
sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to propose fully reoccupying the Gaza Strip when he meets his security cabinet, Israeli media say."The die has been cast. We're going for the full conquest of the Gaza Strip – and defeating Hamas," local journalists quote a senior official to reports that the army chief and other military leaders oppose the plan, the unnamed official said: "If that doesn't work for the chief of staff, he should resign." Source: Reuters News18 Mobile App -
