Latest news with #PIJ
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Don't fall for their lies': Herzog slams int'l media on falling for Hamas starvation propaganda
Herzog expressed outrage that staged images of hunger in Gaza were gaining more global attention than videos of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavsky. President Isaac Herzog urged the world "not to fall for Hamas's lies," during a diplomatic meeting with Estonian President Alar Karis on Wednesday. The Israeli president and First Lady, Michal, attended the meeting at the Presidential Palace in Tallinn, Estonia's capital. During the meeting, Herzog expressed outrage that staged images of hunger in Gaza were gaining more global attention than videos of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavsky. Standing beside Karis, Herzog displayed photos of the two emaciated hostages, who remain captive under Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). "This is an image of Evyatar David, a young kid who was at the party, at the Nova Festival, and he is now skin and bones. His situation is life-threatening. And you see the fat hand of his captor – they have food there. The other room is full of food – the hostages who came out of this tunnel told us," Herzog stated. "And this is Rom Braslavski, another hostage they aired in a video two days ago. All the other hostages – they are in a life-threatening situation," he added. Herzog emphasized Israel's recent humanitarian efforts in Gaza while stressing the urgency of resolving the hostage crisis: "Therefore, in order to resolve the situation, we tell the world: You want to move forward? Get a hostage deal, get a ceasefire. In the last two weeks, Israel has overhauled the entire approach to the humanitarian situation, pushing in major quantities of humanitarian aid, 30,000 tons in the last week, 30 tons only by air drops yesterday, hundreds of trucks." He also criticized the United Nations for logistical failures, stating, "The UN is holding hundreds of trucks, almost 800 trucks. The UN can distribute and is failing to distribute." Herzog then drew attention to a staged Gaza photo that appeared in a German newspaper, depicting Gazans holding empty pots for the cameras rather than waiting for food distribution. "Instead of that, we see a PR campaign like this one revealed in a German newspaper. You see a photographer staging the Gaza people to show that they are lacking food. This is staged. We don't shy away from the humanitarian need to help the people of Gaza, but we ask the world not to fall for the lies. Condemn Hamas and say to Hamas, 'You want to move on? Get the hostages out.'" Solve the daily Crossword
ABC News
4 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Israel's war in Gaza faces difficult path forward after release of hostage videos
Flick on the evening TV news in Israel and it's not uncommon to be presented with a very different view of what's happening in Gaza than what the rest of the world is seeing. Images of starvation on the ground have only recently started to make it to the airwaves. And, depending on which channel you're watching, they're often accompanied by accusations Hamas has caused it and sometimes questions or outright rejections that hunger actually exists in the strip at all. Compare that to the scenes over the weekend as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group released videos of two of the 50 Israeli hostages still held captive in Gaza, prompting extensive and understandable local media interest. Only 20 of those hostages are believed to be alive, and Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David are among them — even though the videos of them show their grip on life is slipping. Mr Braslavski, 21, could be seen writhing in pain, tearfully speaking into the camera and pleading for an end to the war. Mr David, 24, was shown dangerously thin and digging what he said was his own grave. The videos have prompted an outpouring of anger and disgust in Israel, sprayed in multiple directions. There is the official line from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — that this is evidence of the barbarism of the terrorists who attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage. That approach seizes upon the collective trauma still experienced by the Israeli population, which local human rights groups said just last week had been taken advantage of by the government. There's also the response from the community, which is furious about the actions of Hamas and PIJ, while many people are also incensed at the conduct of their government in failing to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal to bring them home. The release of the videos comes at a precarious moment in the war in Gaza, which has been mired for months in a stalemate over a potential ceasefire and hostage deal. The decision to publish the videos, and the response they have garnered, gives an insight into the difficulties moving forward. International pressure on Israel over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has been simmering for many months now, but it's boiled over in the past few weeks as images of starving children have been seen around the world and become impossible to ignore. Despite relentless warnings and accusations of serious abuses by Israeli forces — all of which have been denied by the military and the Netanyahu government — it is scenes of babies lying helpless in hospital beds that appear to have cut through. Whether that public reckoning — forcing countries including Australia to sharpen their rhetoric against Israel — is too little, too late will be debated long after the war ends. But the fact it has prompted that shift explains the events of this past weekend. Videos and photos of distressed Israeli hostages have been released before, and they have promoted understandable concern. Hamas and PIJ's decision to publish videos of emaciated hostages at a time when Gaza itself is in the throes of the "worst-case scenario of famine", according to the UN-backed food security organisation IPC, is deliberate. The groups are using the international focus on the crisis in Gaza to push their message — a lack of food for Palestinians means a lack of food for captives. Just last week, former Israeli hostage Yair Horn said captives could tell when aid was available in Gaza because they would receive more food than at other times. Netanyahu was so incensed by the videos, he called the head of the Red Cross's local delegation and told him to ensure food and medical care was provided to the hostages in Gaza. Hamas responded by saying it would work to facilitate such support, but only if Israel reopened all humanitarian corridors into Gaza. There's a calculation here about what impact these types of videos will have on the war and negotiations to bring it to an end. Ceasefire and hostage talks between Israel and Hamas have been stalled for months. Seeing the state of the two men could give Israel greater impetus to strike a deal, but it could also backfire on Hamas. One risk is that this exercise emboldens Israel to go even harder in Gaza, to punish Hamas and PIJ even more than it already has, which is an approach likely to have dire consequences for the Palestinian population. Gaza's health authorities say in excess of 60,000 people have been killed in 22 months of war — figures backed by the United Nations but disputed by Israel, despite it not putting forward any of its own data about the death toll. But increasing the intensity of its military campaign in Gaza also carries the chance of killing the very hostages the Israeli government professes to want to free. That's one of the reasons why the IDF held back from targeting the area of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza until recently. It reportedly had intelligence it was the area where captives were being hidden. As the videos were published, the mother of one former hostage, mistakenly killed by Israeli forces during a botched rescue operation in late 2023, posted on social media that surrender to Hamas was the only chance for the remaining hostages to be brought home. And while the global sentiment, particularly among world leaders, in support of the starving Palestinian population has been growing more favourable in recent weeks, a reminder of the treatment dished out to Israeli hostages could also shatter that for Hamas. Israel's Channel 13 reported that despite the "shocking" videos of Mr Braslavski and Mr David, the agenda for the government's weekly cabinet meeting did not foreshadow discussion of the plight of the hostages. Instead, it was focused on matters like bolstering security for Mr Netanyahu and his family, and the sacking of Israel's attorney-general — the senior legal adviser in the public service who has been a thorn in the side of the Netanyahu government by criticising controversial policies and laws. At the start of the meeting, the prime minister did mention the war and the desire to bring hostages home to his colleagues as cameras were in the room, as well as plans to convene another cabinet meeting later in the week to help steer the IDF in a new direction. Mr Netanyahu has already reportedly presented a plan to the IDF to totally occupy Gaza as part of these "next steps". The sense being expressed in some corners of the Israeli media is that Mr Netanyahu will say one thing publicly, and do something which achieves an entirely different purpose behind closed doors. In this case, he'll express concern about the hostages but develop plans to push the war forward even further. Whatever the outcome, Mr Netanyahu's plans will likely have significant consequences for the population in Gaza and for the hopes of hostages' families being reunited with their loved ones.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
'I've run out of food, water, I can't stand,' Rom Braslavski says in PIJ hostage video
The Braslavski family on Sunday night approved the publication of the contents of the propaganda video. Hostage Rom Braslavski is seen lying on a mattress, saying he has pain in his foot and has difficulty standing, and is suffering from severe hunger, in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad video originally published on Thursday. The Braslavski's family on Sunday night approved the publication of the contents of the propaganda video. Braslavski, who is distraught throughout the entire video, introduces himself as "a prisoner of the Al-Quds Brigades," the PIJ's military wing. "I've run out of food and water. They would give me a little bit of food, but today, nothing at all," he said in the propaganda video. "Only three pieces of falafel, that's what I ate today. Yesterday I barely ate a plate of rice. Bring in food, a liter of water. I am on the verge of death." The video also shows Braslavski writing in a notebook in Hebrew: "Get me out of here now!" With a drawing of a hostage pin. The date on the notebook indicates that it was filmed on July 20 last month. Braslavski also called for an end to the war in Gaza. "You have to stop what you're doing here. Why are you doing this to us? Bring in food. I am surviving on less than a liter of water. Just give us food, if not for the Gaza Strip, then for the hostages." PIJ claimed that this was the last footage of Braslavski before contact with his guards was lost two days later. Braslavski's mother speaks out on the video Tami, Braslavski's mother, said: "I tried to suppress the reality, but when I watched the video, reality hit me. When you hear him saying these things out loud, it becomes truth despite how difficult it is to believe. "The nightmare I was only afraid to imagine is real. The fear we live with has become more tangible than ever, and it's important that the whole world sees this, despite my personal difficulty in publicly showing my Rom in the dire condition he's in. "I have never seen my son like this. Rom is not shouting or angry—he speaks quietly, in a weak voice like a person who has accepted the fact that there's nothing left to fight for and may not come out of there alive," she continued. "They say that when words run out, tears speak. Rom, my life, I am crying with you." Braslavski's family said they were "deeply shaken" by the video's contents. Braslavski was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023, where he was working security.
Calgary Herald
6 days ago
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
Hamas video of hostage Evyatar David ‘a vile hunger campaign,' family says
The Hamas terrorist group on Friday released a propaganda video featuring hostage Evyatar David, who was abducted from the Supernova music festival during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel. Article content On Saturday, David's family issued a public statement after approving the publication of the full video. Article content Article content 'We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas's tunnels in Gaza—a living skeleton, buried alive,' it read. Article content Article content 'Our son has only a few days left to live in his current condition. Hamas is using our son as a live experiment in a vile hunger campaign. The deliberate starvation of our son as part of a propaganda campaign is one of the most horrifying acts the world has seen. He is being starved purely to serve Hamas's propaganda,' the family said. Article content Article content The intentional 'starvation, torture and abuse' of David violate even 'the lowest standards of humanitarian law and basic human decency,' the statement followed. Article content David's family urged the Israeli government, the Israeli public, the international community and U.S. President Donald Trump 'to do everything possible to save Evyatar from death and ensure, by any means necessary, that he urgently receives food and medical care.' Article content The family added, 'The humanitarian aid that the world, together with Israel, provides to the residents of Gaza must also reach Evyatar. … We are in pain and we weep. There is no limit to the grief and cruelty we endure.' Article content Article content Footage that circulated widely on social media on Friday showed David appearing emaciated. Article content Initially, the family had approved the release of one still photo portraying David's frail physical condition. Article content Article content In response, former captive Liri Albag posted online, 'I'm sitting here and I can't stop crying. … Seeing signs of life from Rom and Evyatar just before Friday dinner, knowing I have food on the table, knowing I made it out—and that it's been six months since I was fortunate enough to return—while remembering where my brothers are and realizing they're still there … , it crushes me,' she said. Article content On Thursday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a propaganda video of hostage Rom Braslavski, who was also abducted on Oct. 7. PIJ claimed the clip was recorded days before it supposedly lost contact with Braslavski's captors last week, adding that his current condition is unknown.
Edmonton Journal
6 days ago
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
Hamas video of hostage Evyatar David ‘a vile hunger campaign,' family says
Article content On Saturday, David's family issued a public statement after approving the publication of the full video. Article content Article content 'We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas's tunnels in Gaza—a living skeleton, buried alive,' it read. Article content Article content 'Our son has only a few days left to live in his current condition. Hamas is using our son as a live experiment in a vile hunger campaign. The deliberate starvation of our son as part of a propaganda campaign is one of the most horrifying acts the world has seen. He is being starved purely to serve Hamas's propaganda,' the family said. Article content Article content The intentional 'starvation, torture and abuse' of David violate even 'the lowest standards of humanitarian law and basic human decency,' the statement followed. Article content David's family urged the Israeli government, the Israeli public, the international community and U.S. President Donald Trump 'to do everything possible to save Evyatar from death and ensure, by any means necessary, that he urgently receives food and medical care.' Article content The family added, 'The humanitarian aid that the world, together with Israel, provides to the residents of Gaza must also reach Evyatar. … We are in pain and we weep. There is no limit to the grief and cruelty we endure.' Article content Article content Footage that circulated widely on social media on Friday showed David appearing emaciated. Article content Initially, the family had approved the release of one still photo portraying David's frail physical condition. Article content Article content In response, former captive Liri Albag posted online, 'I'm sitting here and I can't stop crying. … Seeing signs of life from Rom and Evyatar just before Friday dinner, knowing I have food on the table, knowing I made it out—and that it's been six months since I was fortunate enough to return—while remembering where my brothers are and realizing they're still there … , it crushes me,' she said. Article content On Thursday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a propaganda video of hostage Rom Braslavski, who was also abducted on Oct. 7. PIJ claimed the clip was recorded days before it supposedly lost contact with Braslavski's captors last week, adding that his current condition is unknown.
