Weitkoff meets their families.. Video from 'Al-Qassam' sparks Israeli disputes over the status of their captives in Gaza

SadaNews Translation - A video posted by "Al-Qassam Brigades," the armed wing of Hamas, on Friday evening caused waves, showing Israeli soldier captive Avitar David, who appears emaciated and suffering from malnutrition as a result of the hunger that the residents of Gaza experience.

The brigades stated in the video: "They eat what we eat," referring to the famine that is spreading in Gaza, accusing the Israeli government of starving them just like it does with the residents of the sector.

 

The clip began with a shot from one of the Al-Qassam broadcasts during previous exchange deals, featuring former captives, where captive David appeared in good health at the time, watching the release of his colleagues as part of the recent exchange deal.

The video displayed images of the captive showing signs of severe emaciation, juxtaposed with shots of children in Gaza who clearly exhibited the effects of the famine due to the Israeli blockade and the lack of humanitarian aid, attempting to highlight the shared suffering of civilians and captives in the sector.

The clip also showed the captive looking at a chart indicating the number of days he has spent in captivity, in a scene suggesting prolonged suffering and isolation from the outside world, without uttering a single word.

Following the release of the video, released Israeli captives from the exchange deal expressed their anger towards their government in successive tweets across social media platforms, drawing significant engagement from their followers.

Meanwhile, some journalists working in Hebrew media described the situation as a disgrace, demanding that the Israeli government act promptly towards a swap deal, while some right-wing supporters claimed it was the first real famine in Gaza, considering the images emerging from the sector as a mere theatrical production, as translated and followed by SadaNews.

Despite the Israeli soldier’s family’s request not to broadcast the video, it has gone viral across all Israeli social networks, amid enormous anger among Israelis.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid and some opposition figures launched an attack on the current government, demanding an immediate completion of a deal to bring back all hostages, halt the war, and search for political alternatives.

No official comment has been issued from the Israeli government level.

Hundreds of family members of Israeli captives protested on Saturday morning in the abduction victims’ square in Tel Aviv, demanding immediate action for everyone's release, raising a unified slogan: "Our children have turned into skin and bones."

Surprisingly, American envoy Steve Weitkoff visited the abduction victims' square in Tel Aviv and met with the families of the Israeli captives.

Prior to Weitkoff's arrival, the mother of the captive held by Hamas, Matan Angrist, revealed a message she had written to the Coordinator for Captives and Missing Persons, Gal Hirsch, in which she stated: "My son is turning into skin and bones," to which he replied: "This is Hamas propaganda."

Hirsch responded by saying: The statements attributed to her in the media do not reflect the true message she conveyed to the families of the captives, and he emphasized that these videos released by Hamas are painful and extremely difficult, and part of Hamas's hunger campaign which is their goal, as SadaNews translated.

He added: I communicate and correspond with the families daily and around the clock.. We are continuously working in various ways to assist the families of the captives with great effort to recover all the kidnapped individuals.