# Hamas releases emaciated hostage video of Evyatar David
Event date: 2025-08-02. Hamas released a video of Israeli hostage Evyatar David that showed him visibly emaciated in an underground Gaza tunnel, according to the Jerusalem Post report in the evidence packet.
The report says the video was later cleared for publication by the David family. It describes David crossing off days on a makeshift calendar and appearing shirtless and extremely thin, with his ribs visible. The clip also intercuts him with images of starving Palestinian children and includes propaganda language about aid and hunger.
The source packet establishes several key points. First, the video exists and was published by Hamas. Second, the family allowed it to be shared. Third, the visual presentation was meant to amplify pressure by linking the hostage’s condition to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The article should not go beyond those verified facts.
The report says this was the second hostage video released in 24 hours, following a separate clip involving Rom Braslavski. It also includes comments from family members and former hostages describing the video as evidence of severe malnutrition and harsh conditions. Those reactions are reported in the source and can be referenced as reactions, but the article should be careful not to turn them into independently verified medical conclusions.
Evyatar David was abducted from the Nova Music Festival in Re’im when he was 22, according to the report. That detail is central because it connects the video to the broader hostage crisis that began with the October 7 attacks and has remained politically and emotionally charged.
The source excerpt also says David had previously appeared in another Hamas video in February alongside Guy Gilboa-Dalal. That earlier clip included pleas for a deal to secure their release. Even so, the packet’s main significance lies in the new imagery: a public sign-of-life release showing a captive in a state of obvious physical decline.
Because the matter is highly sensitive, the story should stay disciplined and avoid editorializing. The evidence supports the existence of the video, David’s apparent condition, and the family’s decision to allow publication. It does not by itself verify the conditions inside the tunnel or assign responsibility beyond the general context of captivity.
What the report makes plain is that the hostage issue remains active and intensely visual. Hamas used the video to send a message, and the family and former hostages used the same footage to call attention to what they say the captives are enduring.
