‘Digging My Grave’: Who Is David? Israelis Protest As Family Shocked Over ‘Living Skeleton’ Clip

Last Updated:August 03, 2025, 13:55 IST

Evyatar David's video has triggered protests at Tel Aviv's ‘Hostage Square’, with thousands coming out on the streets to push PM Benjamin Netanyahu to make a deal for the hostages

Clip from the video (left); Israelis seek the release of David and other hostages. (X/AP)

Palestinian group Hamas on Saturday released a disturbing video of a weak Israeli hostage, Evyatar David, 24, showing him digging what he calls “his grave" in an underground tunnel. This is the second hostage video circulated within 48 hours.

The videos have triggered protests at Tel Aviv’s ‘Hostage Square’, with thousands coming out on the streets in the largest rally since the start of the war to push Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a deal for the hostages.

What does the video clip released by Hamas show?

In the footage, David is seen using a shovel in the tunnel. He is seen saying in Hebrew: “What I’m doing now is digging my own grave. Every day my body becomes weaker and weaker. I’m walking directly to my grave. There is the grave where I am going to be buried in. Time is running out to be released and be able to sleep in my bed with my family."

He is then seen breaking down. The footage is juxtaposed with images of starving Palestinian children.

In addition to the footage of David, Hamas and Islamic Jihad released another video showing hostage Rom Braslavski, 21, a dual German-Israeli citizen, also appearing weak.

How has David’s family reacted?

David’s family, according to the New York Post, said in a statement sent to the Hostages Families Forum Headquarters, “We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza — a living skeleton, buried alive."

David’s family in a statement said, “The deliberate starvation of our son as part of a propaganda campaign is one of the most horrifying acts the world has seen. He is being starved purely to serve Hamas’s propaganda."

“Hamas is using our son as a live experiment in a vile hunger campaign. The deliberate starvation of our son as part of a propaganda campaign is one of the most horrifying acts the world has seen," David’s family was quoted by news agency AFP as saying.

‘Nazi-like Abuse’: Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the family

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he spoke with the families of Hamas hostages Rom Braslavsky and Evyatar David. “I expressed to them my deep shock at the harsh footage published by the Hamas terror organisation. I told them in the clearest way – we are continuing the effort to bring back all the hostages, relentlessly, with determination, and without tire," he said in a post on X.

Netanyahu said the “cruelty of Hamas knows no bounds."

“While the State of Israel allows the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, Hamas terrorists deliberately starve our hostages, documenting them in a cynical, humiliating, and malicious manner," he added.

“They also deliberately starve the residents of the Strip," Netanyahu alleged. “They prevent aid from reaching them, and then lie to the world and conduct a false propaganda campaign against Israel," he said.

Netanyahu called on all the countries of the world – stand against this “Nazi-like abuse. Do not stand by. This is a moral test."

Who is Evyatar David?

Evyatar David was reportedly abducted, along with his friend Gal Gilboa-Dalal, during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 that sparked the Gaza war. Both had been attending the Nova music festival in southern Israel.

Palestinian militants killed 370. Of the 251 hostages taken during the Hamas attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27, the Israeli military says, are dead.

In late February, Hamas had released a video showing David and Gilboa-Dalal being held inside a vehicle and forced to watch a hostage release ceremony a short distance away, AFP reported.

With Agency Inputs

News world ‘Digging My Grave’: Who Is David? Israelis Protest As Family Shocked Over ‘Living Skeleton’ Clip

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