Kidnapping of Evyatar David

Kidnapping of Evyatar David
Part of the Gaza war hostage crisis
Poster in Tel Aviv calling for the release of Evyatar David
Location	Eshkol Regional Council, Israel
Date	October 7, 2023 (2023-10-07)
Attack type	Kidnapping

Evyatar David (Hebrew : אביתר דוד) was kidnapped during the Nova music festival massacre of the October 7 attacks.

Evyatar David

Evyatar David was born on December 24, 2000 to Avishai David. ^{[1] [2]} He is from Kfar Saba. ^[3]

Kidnapping

David was kidnapped from the Nova festival during the October 7 attacks. ^[3] He was taken with his childhood friend Guy Gilboa-Dalal. ^[4]

Captivity

On February 22, 2025, David and Gilboa-Dalal, were taken to watch the release of three other hostages, Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen and Omer Wenkert, after 505 days. David and Gilboa-Dalal were not freed and remained imprisoned. ^[5]

Starvation

Hamas released footage of David in August 2025, showing him in an severely emaciated state and forced to dig his own grave. He stated that he had not eaten in days and received little water to drink. A similar video was released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad depicting hostage Rom Braslavski. ^{[6] [7]} Hamas claimed the hostages eat the same food as the militant group's members, but the video shows a Hamas member handing David a can of food. The captor's arm is much larger than David's, showing the former is well-fed. Other hostages noted that Hamas members would feast next door to where they were being held, and they could smell the food. ^[8]

Reactions

David's family compared it to the Holocaust, referring to him as a muselmann. They said his life was in "immediate danger", and that he had been "deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas’ tunnels in Gaza". They also describing him as "a living skeleton, buried alive." ^[6] In an interview with Geoff Bennett on PBS NewsHour , David's cousin, Matan Eshet, pointed out that the Hamas captor had a much larger hand and arm than David, showing the former is well-fed. Eshet continued that the captor also is tanned, showing he has been outside regularly. ^[9] The Israeli foreign ministry also mentioned the contrast in a tweet. ^[10]

The video was also condemned by several world leaders:

•   European Union – High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas said that the video exposes "the barbarity" of Hamas, calling for them to disarm and end its rule in Gaza. ^[6]
•   France – President Emmanuel Macron called it "abject cruelty, an unlimited inhumanity", which "embodies Hamas". ^[6]
•   Germany – Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was "appalled" by the footage. "Hamas is torturing hostages, terrorising Israel, and using Gaza’s population as a human shield." ^[6]
•   ICRC – The organization stated it was "appalled" and that this is "stark evidence of the life-threatening conditions in which the hostages are being held". They called for access to the hostages to assess their condition, provide medical support, as well as contact with their families. ^[7]
•   Israel – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed "profound shock" and told hostage families that the govern "will continue constantly and relentlessly" seek their release. ^[7]
•   United Kingdom – Foreign Secretary David Lammy said that "images of hostages being paraded for propaganda are sickening" and the hostages must be released "unconditionally". ^[7]

Netanyahu spoke with the regional head of the International Committee of the Red Cross and "asked for his involvement in the immediate providing of food and medical care to our hostages". ^[6] The Israeli government placed an advertisement photograph of David on a billboard in Times Square, with the captions "Hamas is starving the Israeli hostages" and "Ignored by the media too busy echoing Hamas propaganda". The display was intended to highlight the ongoing Gaza war hostage crisis, in light of allegations of famine in Gaza, which Israel Consul General in New York Ofir Akunis labelled a blood libel. ^[11] The American Jewish Committee took out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times which showed side by side photos of David before his kidnapping and a still from the video, beneath the caption "Kidnapped. Starved." ^{[12] [ non-primary source needed ]}

Columnist Aviya Kushner wrote in The Forward that there is a stark difference between portrayals of the video in Israeli and American media. Israeli media shows the full video, while American media shows selectively-picked stills. ^[13]

References

1. David, Ilay (December 27, 2024). "A real Chanukah gift? The release of the hostages, including my brother". Jewish News Syndicate . Archived from the original on January 30, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
2. Hasson, Ayala; Pines, Anna (August 2, 2025). "אביו של אביתר דוד: "מחמאס אין לי ציפיות, מצפה שהמדינה טיפה תשנה משהו"" [Eviatar David's father: "I have no expectations from Hamas, I expect the state to change something a little"]. Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (in Hebrew). Retrieved August 31, 2025.
3. Khoury, Jack; Peleg, Bar (August 1, 2025). "Hamas Releases Video of Israeli Hostage Evyatar David From Gaza Captivity". Haaretz . Retrieved August 6, 2025.
4. "The next 24: These are the remaining hostages presumed alive in Gaza". The Times of Israel . March 7, 2025. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
5. Fabian, Emanuel (February 22, 2025). "Families of hostages Eviatar David, Guy Gilboa-Dalal okay publication of Hamas propaganda clip from today". The Times of Israel . Archived from the original on February 23, 2025. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
6. Sutherland, Callum; Schneid, Rebecca (August 4, 2025). "World Leaders Condemn Hamas' 'Cruel' Video of Israeli Hostage Evyatar David in Gaza Captivity". Time . Retrieved August 6, 2025.
7. Bachega, Hugo; Moench, Mallory (August 3, 2025). "World leaders condemn videos of emaciated Israeli hostages in Gaza as Red Cross calls for access". BBC News . Retrieved August 6, 2025.
8. Gordon, Lihi (August 2, 2025). "Revealing detail in hostage video exposes Hamas starvation hoax". Ynetnews . Retrieved August 31, 2025.
9. Bennett, Geoff (August 5, 2025). "Israeli hostage shown in Hamas video is starved, tortured and 'a broken man,' cousin says". PBS . Retrieved August 31, 2025.
10. Israel Foreign Ministry [@IsraelMFA] (August 2, 2025). "Look at the arms of Evyatar David — an Israeli hostage, starved to the edge of collapse. Now look at the arm of his Palestinian Hamas captor — strong, well-fed, offering a can for show. So who's really being starved in Gaza? @nytimes @BBC @CNN @Daily_Express" (Tweet). Retrieved August 31, 2025– via Twitter.
11. Gilson, Grace (August 5, 2025). "Israel broadcasts Hamas' video of hostage Evyatar David in Times Square". Jewish Telegraphic Agency . Retrieved August 7, 2025.
12. "AJC Runs Full Page New York Times Ad to Expose Israeli Hostage Suffering". American Jewish Committee (Press release). New York. August 6, 2025. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
13. Kushner, Aviya (August 7, 2025). "In that horrific video of a man digging his own grave, Israelis are seeing something that Americans aren't". The Forward . Retrieved August 31, 2025.