Israel PM says in 'profound shock' over hostage videos

JERUSALEM, UNDEFINED -  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with relatives of two hostages held in Gaza seen in videos released by Palestinian militant groups, expressing his "profound shock" over the images, his office said.

Since Thursday, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have released three clips showing two hostages taken during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.

The images of Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, looking emaciated after nearly 22 months of captivity, have sparked strong reactions among Israelis, fuelling renewed calls to reach a truce and hostage release deal without delay.

"The prime minister expressed profound shock over the materials distributed by the terror organisations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and told the families that the efforts to return all our hostages are ongoing, and will continue constantly and relentlessly," said a statement from Netanyahu's office released late Saturday.

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 hostages.

In the footage 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.

The videos make references to the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned a "famine is unfolding".

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.

Right-wing daily Israel Hayom said that Hamas's "cruelty knows no bounds", while left-leaning Haaretz declared that "Netanyahu is in no rush" to rescue the captives.

 'ABUSE' 

Netanyahu, according to his office, spoke "at length" with Braslavski and David's families on Saturday, decrying "the cruelty of Hamas".

He accused the group of "deliberately starving our hostages" and documenting them "in a cynical and evil manner".

Israel, meanwhile, "is allowing the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza", Netanyahu said.

Reiterating Israel's stance that it was not to blame for the humanitarian crisis, Netanyahu said "the terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving the residents of the Strip" by preventing them from receiving the aid that enters Gaza.

The Israeli premier, who has faced mounting international pressure to halt the war, called on "the entire world" to take a stand against what he called "the criminal Nazi abuse perpetrated by the Hamas terror organisation".

Braslavski and David are among 49 hostages seized 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 taken in the attack have been released during two short-lived truces in the war, some in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody.

The Hamas 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.

Israel has heavily restricted the entry of aid into Gaza, already under blockade for 15 years before the ongoing war.

Overnight from Saturday to Sunday, air raid sirens sounded in Israeli communities near the Gaza border, with the military saying that "a projectile that was launched from the southern Gaza Strip was most likely intercepted".