Israeli Families Demand Action After Disturbing Hamas Hostage Footage

Israeli families are sounding the alarm after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad released deeply disturbing videos showing hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski in a severely emaciated state. The footage has sparked a wave of public anguish and a chorus of desperate pleas from relatives, many of whom are now comparing the plight of their loved ones to the horrors of the Holocaust.

"We have a Holocaust before our eyes," said Kobi Kalfon, father of hostage Segev Kalfon, in an emotional interview with KAN. “It is the moral duty of the prime minister to heal the entire country and make the right decision.”

The videos, which depict the young men digging what they describe as their own graves and begging for food, have plunged hostage families into a renewed state of panic. Hagai Angrest, whose son Matan was kidnapped, described the impact on his elderly father-in-law, a Holocaust survivor suffering from dementia. “He experiences Matan's abduction anew every day,” Angrest told Army Radio. “He saw the videos and relived the horror all over again.”

Danny, the father of hostage Omri Miran, said the videos forced him to confront a terrifying reality. “It crossed my mind that my son probably looks like that too,” he said. “And not just my son, but all 20 of the living hostages. This time, they showed those two and it’s possible they’re the healthier ones.”

Ronen, brother of hostage Alon Ohel, drew further parallels to history: “It’s terrible to think that Hamas needs to wake us up with a kick to the face so we know what’s happening there, when it’s already known to everyone in the government.”

The release of the videos has reignited demands for decisive government action. While some families support diplomatic solutions, others fear time has run out and that further military operations in central Gaza may lead to more deaths.

“If fighting resumes in central Gaza, it will be a death sentence for my son, if he's not already dead,” said Danny Miran. “They are going to kill him, and his blood will be on their hands.”

The shocking images of hostages near death have shaken the Israeli public and stirred comparisons that cut to the core of national memory. In a country shaped by the legacy of the Shoah, the notion that Jews could again be starved and brutalized, this time underground in Gaza, is almost too much to bear.

But from this heartbreak comes a renewed call for clarity, for courage, and for action. As families plead for the return of their loved ones, the question remains: how many more warnings will it take?

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