ISRAEL is gearing up for a new assault on Gaza after horrific hostage videos lit a firestorm across the globe.
Harrowing footage shows two Israeli captives — starved, pale, and broken — suffering in Hamas tunnels.
AFPIsraeli hostage Evyatar David looking weak and malnourished[/caption]
The 24-year-old is seen digging what he believes is his own grave
Rom Braslavski, 21, was seen in tears as he’s held captive by Hamas terrorists
Braslavski revealed in the footage that he had nothing but three crumbs of falafel that day
Evyatar David, 24, and Rom Braslavski, 21, were both abducted from the Nova music festival on the deadly October 7 attacks.
Now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the gloves are off.
In a fiery address Sunday night, the PM declared that Israel would press forward with a “decisive military victory” to free the remaining hostages.
Netanyahu again vowed to crush Hamas, which he said was deliberately starving captives in scenes chillingly reminiscent of the Nazi death camps.
Referencing the horror hostage videos, he said: “You see them languishing in a dungeon, but the Hamas monsters surrounding them have thick, fleshy arms.
“They have everything they need to eat. They are starving them, just as the Nazis starved the Jews.”
The footage — released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad last week and approved for publication by the families — shows the hostages visibly emaciated, trembling, and close to collapse.
In one heart-wrenching moment, David is seen digging what he believes to be his own grave.
In another, Braslavski cries as he says he has eaten only three crumbs of falafel that day.
His devastated family said in a statement: “They managed to break Rom.
“He has simply been forgotten there.”
David’s family described their son as a “living skeleton, buried alive” in Hamas’s tunnels.
“I haven’t eaten for days… I barely got drinking water,” David says in the footage.
War cabinet at a crossroads
According to The Times of Israel, Netanyahu is driving a plan for expanded military action – pushing into parts of Gaza previously avoided in hopes of preserving hostages’ lives.
But the security cabinet is divided.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Mossad chief David Barnea are reportedly urging caution, while far-right ministers like Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich call for a full-scale reoccupation.
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Netanyahu’s military secretary are among those backing an expanded war effort now being framed as inevitable in the absence of any viable diplomatic track.
EPAIsrael is planning a new assault on Gaza after the horrific hostage videos[/caption]
ReutersPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press forward with a ‘decisive military victory’[/caption]
EPASmoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from the Israeli side of the border on July 31[/caption]
APIsraeli soldiers are seen in a tunnel that the military says Hamas militants used to attack the Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip[/caption]
“Hamas is not interested in a deal,” a senior Israeli official told Israel Hayom, saying that the group has flatly rejected all proposals, including full hostage release and Gaza demilitarisation.
“Hamas has rejected every deal,” said a senior source quoted by Israel Hayom.
“Their refusal is rooted in the belief that starvation of the hostages and international pressure will force Israel to surrender. That cannot be allowed to happen.”
As ABC News confirmed through Israeli sources, Netanyahu is now pushing a “military solution” and coordinating with Washington amid signs the US is no longer willing to back partial hostage deals.
International fury
The horrifying scenes have prompted an international backlash.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy called the images “sickening,” while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron demanded immediate release of the hostages.
The Red Cross described the footage as “stark evidence” of life-threatening conditions and urged immediate access to the captives.
ReutersSmoke rises from Gaza following an explosion in May[/caption]
GettyPalestinians at an aid distribution centre near the Zikim border crossing in Gaza to access limited food on Sunday[/caption]
Netanyahu met with the Red Cross delegation head on Sunday, demanding urgent medical and food access to the hostages.
Behind closed doors, Israeli security officials admit they had long known about the hostages’ deteriorating condition.
According to Ynet, intelligence briefings warned weeks ago that captors were deliberately withholding food under direct orders —feeding the prisoners just enough to keep them alive.
But the images have had a visceral impact on the Israeli public, and on Netanyahu himself.
The prime minister said: “Like you, I was horrified yesterday. I saw the gruesome videos of our beloved sons, Rom and Evyatar.
“When I see this, I understand exactly what Hamas wants. It does not want a deal. It wants to break us… But we will not break.
“I am filled with even greater resolve to free our hostages, eliminate Hamas and ensure Gaza is never again a threat to the State of Israel.”
Will there be a peace deal?
AS of August 2025, a lasting Israel-Hamas peace deal hangs in the balance.
A January 19 ceasefire saw 25 Israeli hostages and 1,900 Palestinian prisoners freed, but collapsed by March 18 after Israeli airstrikes killed over 400 in Gaza.
July’s US-backed 60-day truce push aimed to free remaining hostages and spark permanent talks, but stalled in Cairo.
Hamas demands a full Israeli withdrawal; Israel insists on Hamas disarming.
With 90 Palestinians killed in recent strikes and both sides dug in—Israel on security, Hamas on ending the war—talks teeter.
Mediators see glimmers of hope, but mistrust and clashing red lines keep peace elusive.
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