Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas Movement, released new footage of the Israeli prisoner Avitar David, showing him in a severely weakened state. The video offered a glitter into the reality of Israeli captives held in Gaza amid the starvation and siege enforced by Israeli occupation forces.

The clip began with a flashback to a previous Qassam video from an earlier prisoner exchange. In it, David was seen in good health, watching his fellow prisoners being released as part of the deal.

Weakness and emaciation

The video then cuts to current images of David, now gaunt and frail, juxtaposed with footage of Gaza’s children visibly suffering from famine due to the blockade and the prevention of humanitarian aid. This parallel aimed to highlight the shared suffering between Gaza’s civilians and the captives.

One scene showed David sitting in a narrow tunnel, staring silently at a tally of the days he had spent in captivity, an image that evoked prolonged suffering and isolation. In another shot, he was drinking water, paralleling a scene of a starving Palestinian child, deprived of baby formula due to Israel’s aid blockade.

The footage also included archival clips of "Israeli National Security" Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declaring that only bombs should be sent to Gaza, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisting on minimizing aid to the Strip.

Everyone is starving

The video ended with a written statement: “They eat what we eat and drink what we drink”, a message suggesting that the prisoners’ sustenance is limited to what Gaza’s besieged population survives on.

According to past statements by Abu Obida, spokesperson of Al-Qassam Brigades, the Israeli captives will not be released except through a comprehensive prisoner swap deal, an offer Israel continues to reject in favor of escalating military pressure on Hamas.

Al-Qassam Brigades has previously published several recordings of Israeli captives that included pleas to the Israeli government for rescue and warnings that military operations will not bring them back alive.

Israeli shock

The latest Al-Qassam video comes amid intensifying debate within Israel over the fate of the captive soldiers. Families of the prisoners are clashing with the government, demanding a new exchange deal to bring them home.

The footage caused widespread shock in the "Israeli society", which had grown used to scenes of starvation among Gaza’s residents, but now saw how it was impacting their own captives.

Former prisoners, families of the detained, politicians, and diplomats all expressed horror at the video and demanded that Netanyahu’s government quickly seal a deal to release all captives.

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth described the video as “shocking” and reflective of the severe impact the food crisis has had on the prisoners. The paper added that it will likely influence decision-making at the highest levels.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid commented, “Every member of the government must watch the video of (Avitar) tonight and then try to sleep, thinking about how he is struggling to survive in that tunnel.”

The families of captives and missing persons said they were appalled by the footage, urging government officials to view it as if it depicted their own children, and to take bold steps toward a comprehensive deal to rescue their loved ones from hell.

Rising death risks

According to the so-called “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” which claimed during a visit by US envoy Steve Witkoff that it had distributed 100 million meals since operations began, analysts argued that this is an implicit admission of mass starvation. With Gaza’s population over 2 million, those meals would last only 15 days, meaning residents have gone over 75 days without sufficient food.

“Gaza … Death by starvation”

Titled “Gaza … Death by Starvation”, the video highlighted the humanitarian catastrophe in the enclave.

Barslavsky, a 22-year-old from occupied Jerusalem, described his declining condition, “I’m not doing well. My legs and arms hurt. Every time I try to get up and go to the bathroom, I get dizzy and collapse. I can’t breathe. I can’t go on living (like this).”

He revealed a drastic drop in food portions, saying, “From morning to night, there’s nothing. I eat three falafel balls all day, or barely a plate of rice.”

 Through tears, he added, “I don’t eat. I don’t drink. There’s simply no food here. Food is so scarce we can barely get any.”

And he pleaded with Israeli officials, “Stop this hell we’re living in. Stop the suffering. Please end this war. Stop killing little children. Stop starving them. These actions are against your conscience.”

He begged his government saying, “This is unethical. This is torture, torture of innocent children. What’s their crime? Why do this to them?”

And finally, “If not for Gaza’s children, then do it for your captives in Gaza. Send food and water. I beg you.”