Video of emaciated Israeli captive in Gaza stirs divisions in Israel

Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, released a video on Friday of an Israeli captive showing signs of severe weight loss and malnutrition, raising further alarm over the ongoing starvation and siege in Gaza.

The caption to the video, posted on Telegram, reads that the captive is "waiting to be released in a prisoner swap".

The video shows the captive, who was later identified as Israeli soldier Evyatar David, looking markedly thin and sitting on bed in a cramped room. His arms show signs of drastic weight loss, and his ribs are also protruding, in a scene which has become increasingly common in Gaza as Israel obstructs aid.

The clip went on to show earlier footage of the captive being transported in a vehicle during a previous temporary ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement which took place in January.

The captions in the video are written in Arabic, English and Hebrew, and go on to state "the occupation government has decided to starve them…they eat what we eat, they drink what we drink".

It also includes several clips of emaciated Palestinian children and babies, with many of them looking skeletal due to their bones sticking out against their skin.

Following the publication of the video, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid hit out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in a statement on X, saying: "Every member of the government should watch Evitar’s video today before going to sleep and try to fall asleep while thinking of him trying to stay alive in the tunnel".

Israel’s official broadcasting authority later quoted Galia David, the mother of the captive as saying: "I am devastated, but I have one certainty, my son is alive. Evyatar is alive", adding that this was the first time she has been able to watch a recording of him.

According to Hebrew news site Yedioth Ahronoth, several of the family members of the captives have demanded that Netanyahu’s government agree on a ceasefire deal immediately to secure the freedom of those held in Gaza.

Israeli figures state there are 50 captives now left in Gaza, 20 of them alive. At the same time, Israel is holding some 10,800 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, many of them arbitrarily arrested without charge or trial. Children are also among those held in Israeli prisons, many of them in poor conditions and with no access to lawyers or regular family visits.

Hamas said on Thursday that they are ready to engage in a new round of ceasefire negotiations, urging that the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel comes to an end and emergency aid is allowed into Gaza unimpeded.

In a statement published on its official Telegram channel, the group said that starvation in Gaza had now reached "unprecedented levels" and poses a significant threat to the lives of over 2 million Palestinians.

The latest developments come as Ted Chaiban, the UNICEF deputy director, made damning comments following a recent visit to Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

"Over 18,000 children have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war. That’s an average of 28 children a day, the size of a classroom, gone. Children have lost loved ones, they are hungry and scared, and they are traumatised," he said.

He noted that more than 320,000 young children are at risk of acute malnutrition currently in Gaza.

"I should also say that I visited the West Bank. There, too, children are under threat. So far this year, 39 Palestinian children have been killed. I visited a Bedouin community east of Ramallah, which was forcibly displaced due to violence," he continued.