Israel PM Says In 'Profound Shock' Over Hostage Videos
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.
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".
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".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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". Screengrab from a video released by the armed wing of Palestinian group Hamas showing Israeli hostage Evyatar David in a Gaza tunnel AFP Nine-year-old malnourished Palestinian girl Mariam Dawwas with her mother in Gaza City AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
33 minutes ago
- Int'l Business Times
Vance And Lammy Talk Gaza, Fish As US VP Starts UK Holiday
British foreign minister David Lammy and JD Vance talked Gaza during a meeting on Friday as the US vice president kicked off his holiday in the United Kingdom. Lammy hosted Vance at his country retreat in Chevening in Kent, southeast of London, where the pair went fishing in a carp pond before getting down to business. Vance told reporters the United States had "no plans" to follow Britain by recognising a Palestinian state, as the meeting got under way at the 17th-century mansion. "I don't know what it would mean to really recognise a Palestinian state, given the lack of functional government there," Vance said. He added that he expected President Donald Trump to "talk at some point to the media about his response" to Israel's plan to "take military control" of the Palestinian territory of Gaza. "Our goals are very clear. We want to make it so that Hamas can't attack innocent people. We want to solve humanitarian problems in Gaza," Vance said. The two men also discussed the war in Ukraine ahead of a possible summit next week between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as the US president tries to end the more than three-year-long conflict. Lammy, of the centre-left Labour party, and the Republican Vance have struck up a warm relationship despite their different political strands, bonding over their difficult childhoods and shared Christian faith. Lammy reportedly attended mass at the vice president's residence in Washington in March. Vance said Lammy had become a "good friend" but teased that his three young children were better at fishing than Britain's top diplomat. "Unfortunately, the one strain on the special relationship is that all of my kids caught fish, but the foreign secretary did not," he joked. Vance is due to stay at Chevening throughout the weekend, according to Britain's foreign ministry. His family will then spend some time in the Cotswolds region in western England, UK media have reported. Reports have also said Vance will visit Scotland, where Trump spent five days at his golf resorts last month. While there, he signed a trade deal with European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Trump also played golf and opened a new 18-hole course. He is due back in the UK for a state visit in September.
Int'l Business Times
33 minutes ago
- Int'l Business Times
Israel Plans To 'Take Control' Of Gaza City, Sparking Wave Of Criticism
Israel's military will "take control" of Gaza City under a new plan approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet, touching off a wave of criticism Friday from both inside and outside the country. Nearly two years into the war in Gaza, Netanyahu faces mounting pressure to secure a truce to pull the territory's more than two million people back from the brink of famine and free the hostages held by Palestinian militants. Israel's foe Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack triggered the war, denounced the plan to expand the fighting as a "new war crime". Staunch Israeli ally Germany meanwhile took the extraordinary step of halting military exports out of concern they could be used in Gaza. Under the newly approved plan to "defeat" Hamas, the Israeli army "will prepare to take control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside combat zones", the premier's office said Friday. Before the decision, Netanyahu had said Israel planned to seize complete control of the Gaza Strip, but did not intend to govern it. The premier told US network Fox News on Thursday that Israel wanted to maintain a "security perimeter" and to hand the Palestinian territory to "Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us". Israel occupied Gaza from 1967, but withdrew its troops and settlers in 2005. Netanyahu's office said the cabinet had adopted "five principles", including Gaza's demilitarisation and "the establishment of an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority". The plan triggered swift criticism from across the globe, with China, Turkey, Britain and the UN's rights chief as well as numerous Arab governments issuing statements of concern. In a major shift, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced his country was halting military shipments to Israel, saying it was "increasingly difficult to understand" how the new plan would help achieve legitimate aims. "The German government will not authorise any exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip until further notice," he said. Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid denounced the cabinet's move as "a disaster" that could result in "the death of the hostages, the killing of many soldiers... and lead to diplomatic bankruptcy". The main campaign group for hostages' families also slammed the plan, saying it amounted to "abandoning" the captives. "The cabinet chose last night to embark on another march of recklessness, on the backs of the hostages, the soldiers, and Israeli society as a whole," the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said. An expanded Israeli offensive could see ground troops operate in densely populated areas where hostages are believed to be held, local media have reported. Some Israelis, meanwhile, offered their support. The Israeli army said last month that it controlled 75 percent of the Gaza Strip. Out of 251 hostages captured during Hamas's 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the military says are dead. Gaza residents said they feared further displacement and attacks as they braced for the next onslaught. "They tell us to go south, then back north, and now they want to send us south again. We are human beings, but no one hears us or sees us," Maysa al-Shanti, a 52-year-old mother of six, told AFP. Hamas on Friday said the "plans to occupy Gaza City and evacuate its residents constitutes a new war crime". It warned Israel that the operation would "cost it dearly", and that "expanding the aggression means sacrificing" the hostages held by militants. International concern has been growing over the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, where a UN-backed assessment has warned that famine is unfolding. The World Health Organization said at least 99 people have died from malnutrition in the territory this year, with the figure likely an underestimate. Gaza's civil defence agency said a 19-year-old was seriously injured during the delivery of aid by an airdrop over Gaza City. "There are daily injuries and fatalities caused by the heavy parcels falling on people's heads in densely populated areas," said civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal, adding that stampedes and overcrowding at aid drop sites frequently lead to casualties. Bassal said Israeli strikes across Gaza on Friday killed at least 16 people. Israel in recent months has eased some restrictions on aid entering Gaza, but the United Nations says the amount allowed into the territory remains insufficient. Israel's offensive has killed over 61,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry. The 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Palestinians following a strike on Gaza City, which Israel would 'take control' of under a new plan AFP Infographic with a map of the Gaza Strip showing the parts of the territory under unrevoked evacuation orders or within Israeli militarised zones as of August 6, 2025, according to UN/OCHA AFP Israel's security cabinet approved new war plans that involve taking over Gaza City AFP Israel has eased some restrictions on aid entering Gaza, but the United Nations says the amount allowed into the territory remains insufficient AFP
DW
42 minutes ago
- DW
Bayern Munich sign sponsorship deal with Emirates – DW – 08/08/2025
Bayern Munich have become the latest top-level football club to sign a deal with UAE-owned airline Emirates. The German champions are talking up the financial benefits but some think there is more to consider. Two years after ending their relationship with Qatar Airways amid fan protests, Bayern Munich has signed a new partnership with Emirates, the airline owned and operated by the United Arab Emirates. The agreement, announced on Wednesday, is similar to the one the football club has with Visit Rwanda, the tourist board of the African country, and will encompass pitchside advertising as well as what Bayern calls "joint activations on both companies' social and digital channels." Unlike in their deal with Rwanda, the German champions make no mention of any football academy in the UAE. Emirates, which reportedly missed out on Bayern's shirt sponsorship, is a familiar presence in football. The airline has deals of various prominence in place with Arsenal, Real Madrid and Lyon, among others, and sponsor the English FA Cup, the oldest national cup competition in football. They also have deals in place in many other sports and were previously a shirt sponsor for Hamburg in the Bundesliga. Michael Ott, a German lawyer who led fan protests against the Qatar Airways sponsorship, is disappointed that history is repeating itself. "It is deceptive but, in the end, probably makes sense given that my impression was always that the Qatar deal wasn't ended thanks to a shift in the mindset of Bayern officials but because Qatar didn't want to continue anymore. "So now they're doing the exact same thing once again. With the difference that the situation of migrant workers in UAE is probably even worse than in Qatar," he told DW. "It's impossible to justify an advertisement contract for a company belonging to such a state. I feel ashamed for Bayern." A 2024 report from Amnesty International said the country, made up of seven emirates including Dubai, was "criminalizing the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly" also noting its "strong economic relations with Israel amid the armed conflict in Gaza" and the use of "prolonged solitary confinement against prisoners in the mass trial of Emirati dissidents as a means of coercion and punishment." Michael Diederich, Bayern's deputy chairman, talked up the financial advantages of the deal, thought to be worth €5 million ($5.8 million) annually to the club, which recently spent €70 million on signing Colombian forward Luis Diaz from Livepool. "FC Bayern is very pleased to have gained a strong and shining partner in Emirates, which has been a committed supporter of club football in Europe for decades," he said. "FC Bayern also needs financial planning security to achieve its sporting goals, so Emirates is an ideal fit for our club's family of partners." That family of partners also includes long-term deals with German firms Adidas, Allianz and Audi, who each own a stake in the club. These comprise the club's so-called "main partners," alongside shirt sponsor Deutsche Telekom. Emirates now sit in the "platinum" tier just beneath with betting site Betano, Crypto platform Bitpanda and Visit Rwanda, among others.
