Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Hamas starving hostages ‘just as nazis starved Jews'

West Australian

19 hours ago

The Israeli Prime Minister has compared the actions of Hamas to that of the nazis in World War Two after another heartbreaking video of an emaciated hostage taken by the terrorist group during the October 7 attack emerged.
Benjamin Netanyahu said he was horrified by the videos and called Hamas 'monsters', while Western powers including France, Germany, the UK and the US have expressed outrage.
The first hostage video released on Thursday, showed Rom Braslavski thin, crying and begging for freedom.
In it he says he is unable to stand or walk and is 'suffering with pain that doesn't look good'.
'I don't have any more food or water. Before they would give me a little bit, today there is nothing,' he said.
In a second nearly five-minute video released on Saturday, an emaciated Evyatar David, 24, is seen in a narrow tunnel, being forced to dig what is described as his 'own grave'.
In the video, he recounts the days in July when he was given only beans, lentils, or nothing at all to eat. Sometimes, he says, he went days without any food.
Mr Netanyahu said Hamas was spreading 'false horror propaganda'.
'You see (the hostages) languishing in a dungeon. But the monsters of Hamas surrounding them, they have thick, fleshy arms. They have everything they need to eat.
'They are starving them, just as the Nazis starved the Jews. And when I see this, I understand exactly what Hamas wants. It doesn't want a deal. It wants to break us through these horrific videos, through the false horror propaganda it spreads around the world. But we will not break.
'I am filled with even stronger determination to free our kidnapped sons, to eliminate Hamas, and to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to the State of Israel.'
Mr Netanyahu said on Sunday he had asked the Red Cross to give humanitarian assistance to the hostages during a conversation with the head of the Swiss-based ICRC's local delegation.
Israel's foreign ministry announced that the UN Security Council will hold a special session on Tuesday morning on the issue of the situation of the hostages in Gaza.
Hamas says it is prepared to coordinate with the Red Cross to deliver aid to hostages it holds in Gaza, if Israel meets certain conditions.
Hamas said any coordination with the Red Cross is contingent upon Israel permanently opening humanitarian corridors and halting air strikes during the distribution of aid.
According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Hamas, thus far, has barred humanitarian organisations from having any kind of access to the hostages and families have little or no details of their conditions.
A statement from The Hostages Families Forum, which represents relatives of those being held in Gaza, said Hamas' comments about the hostages cannot hide that it 'has been holding innocent people in impossible conditions for over 660 days,' and demanded their immediate release.
'Until their release, Hamas has the obligation to provide them with everything they need. Hamas kidnapped them and they must care for them. Every hostage who dies will be on Hamas's hands,' the statement read.
Six more people died of starvation or malnutrition in Gaza over the past 24 hours, its health ministry said on Sunday as Israel said it allowed a delivery of fuel to the enclave, in the throes of a humanitarian disaster after almost two years of war.
The new deaths raised the toll of those dying from what international humanitarian agencies say may be an unfolding famine to 175, including 93 children, since the war began, the ministry said.
Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said two trucks carrying 107 tons of diesel were set to enter Gaza, months after Israel severely restricted aid access to the enclave before easing it somewhat as starvation began to spread.
COGAT, the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, said later in the day that four tankers of UN fuel had entered to help in operations of hospitals, bakeries, public kitchens and other essential services.
Fuel shipments have been rare since March.
Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza but, in response to a rising international uproar, it announced steps last week to let more aid reach the population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, approving air drops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys.
UN agencies say airdrops are insufficient and that Israel must let in far more aid by land and open up access to the territory to prevent starvation among its 2.2 million people, most of whom are displaced amidst vast swathes of rubble.
COGAT said that during the past week over 23,000 tons of humanitarian aid in 1200 trucks had entered Gaza.
Meanwhile, Belgium's air force dropped the first in a series of its aid packages into Gaza on Sunday in a joint operation with Jordan, the Belgian defence ministry said.
France on Friday started to air-drop 40 tons of humanitarian aid.
Palestinian local health authorities said at least 80 people had been killed by Israeli gunfire and air strikes across the coastal enclave on Sunday.
- with Reuters