Hamas armed wing publishes video of Gaza hostage
The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades video showed an emaciated and bearded man that AFP and Israeli media identified as Evyatar David, seized on Oct. 7, 2023.
AFP could not independently verify the video's authenticity.
David, who turned 24 in captivity, was abducted during the Hamas attack that sparked the Gaza war, along with his friend Gal Gilboa-Dalal. Both had been attending the Nova music festival in southern Israel.
They were among 44 festival-goers seized. Palestinian militants killed 370.
In late February, Hamas released a video showing David and Gilboa-Dalal inside a vehicle, watching a hostage release ceremony a few meters away.
Of the 251 hostages taken during the Hamas attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27, the Israeli military says, are dead.
Israeli restrictions on the entry of goods and aid into Gaza have led to severe shortages of food and other essential goods, triggering international demands for a cease-fire.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


L'Orient-Le Jour
3 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Iran backs Hezbollah's decisions on disarmament, says foreign minister
TEHRAN — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday that Iran supports Hezbollah, its Lebanese ally, in its decisions, after the group rejected Cabinet's plan to disarm it, AFP reports. "Any decision on this matter will ultimately rest with Hezbollah itself. We support it from afar, but we do not intervene in its decisions," Araghchi said in a television interview, adding that the group has "rebuilt itself" following setbacks during its war with Israel last year.


LBCI
3 hours ago
- LBCI
Netanyahu pushes Gaza occupation plan amid mounting risks and potential military unrest
Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Mariella Succar Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has referred the decision to fully occupy the Gaza Strip back to the security cabinet for final approval on Thursday. Ignoring warnings about the severe risks, not only to the approximately 20 Israeli hostages still alive in Gaza but also regarding the military and financial consequences for Israel's management of Gaza, Netanyahu pressed ahead. A former Shin Bet spokesperson noted that details Netanyahu appears to be disregarding in Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir's plan suggest it could compel Hamas to yield. The plan calls for the Israeli army to impose a siege on Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, central refugee camps, and al-Mawasi where Hamas holds control. It also involves limited, targeted attacks by a small number of troops, minimizing risks to both the army and the hostages. Security officials accuse Netanyahu of gambling with Israel's fate and that of the hostages, while some warn of potential exploitation of U.S. President Donald Trump's stance of non-intervention in the Gaza occupation decision. There are growing fears that if Zamir's plan is executed, he may resign, which would represent a major blow to Tel Aviv. Analysts predict it could trigger deep unrest within the Israeli military, alongside widespread public opposition reminiscent of the "Four Mothers movement" protests, which led to Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.


L'Orient-Le Jour
6 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Smotrich, who once called starvation 'moral,' backs funding Gaza aid
In a dramatic reversal, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Wednesday that he would back a move to direct millions of shekels from Israel's coffers to providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, despite his previous positions, which included making comments such as starving millions in the Palestinian territory would be "justified and moral." Speaking to the Israeli Kan public broadcaster, Smotrich claimed such funding is 'not money for humanitarian aid, it's money to win the war. Had we controlled the humanitarian aid to Gaza we would have won the war a while ago.' The finance minister said he believed it would be preferable to pull the troops from an Israeli army division from fighting 'and put that money toward supporting the American companies who are managing the humanitarian aid," referring to the highly criticized Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed U.S.-run company that has been distributing aid in Gaza since May, and whose centers have been the site of hundreds of Palestinian aid seeker's deaths by live fire. On Monday, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump discussed plans for Washington to significantly increase its role Gaza aid distribution, Axios reported, citing Israeli and U.S. officials, one of whom said the Trump administration will "take over" aid management, due to Israel's inadequacy. Smotrich, who has previously threatened to quit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition over an Israeli decision to lift a famine-inducing blockade on aid entering the Strip, said the money spent on the American aid effort would be "inseparable from the war effect,' according to the comments cited by Times of Israel. In a video posted Wednesday evening on his X account, Smotrich addressed the topic again, saying, "Hamas can't be defeated with tanks alone." Smotrich argued that Hamas must be strangled economically, and that he wants to include a dedicated budget in case Israel needs to "fund aid for the population instead of continuing to send trucks to Hamas." "A clear decision will be made to conquer all of Gaza," he said, but noted that the war has already cost 300 billion shekels, the equivalent of $87.5 billion, and that "without civil and economic strangulation, there is no chance in the world of winning."