According to a report by The Times of Israel on Sunday, August 3, 2025, video footage showing two critically malnourished hostages in Gaza has prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to denounce Hamas, who he claims are not interested in discussing an agreement to free their captives.
The disturbing footage of hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David has only served to deepen his resolve to destroy the terrorist organization, he stated in a video statement that was distributed by his office.
He claimed that Hamas’s goal in distributing these awful images and other false information around the world is to demoralize Israel.
I know just what Hamas wants, he said. No bargain is desirable to it. Its goal in spreading these terrifying movies and other forms of bogus fear propaganda is to shatter our will to live. Images showing the hostages in terrible conditions shocked Netanyahu to his core.
He came clean about personally contacting Braslavski and David’s families to console them and talk about what was happening. He compared the captives’ physical appearance to that of their captors and said that they were wasting away in captivity due to the terrible conditions in which they were held.
Despite having ready access to food, he said that Hamas members purposefully starved the hostages. He drew a historical comparison, comparing their acts to the Holocaust crimes perpetrated by the Nazis, highlighting the brutality inflicted on the prisoners.
The Prime Minister’s statements highlight his conviction that Hamas will not participate in serious discussions to free the hostages. Instead, he said, the group’s goal is to use the hostages’ pain to demoralize Israel and influence world opinion with false narratives.
