Thousands of Israelis call for end to war after Hamas video shows emaciated captives

Tens of thousands of Israelis protested in Tel Aviv on Sunday to call for an end to the war and freedom for the hostages in Gaza after Hamas aired propaganda videos showing emaciated captives.

Chants of “Stop the war!” and “Leave no one behind!” filled the city’s Hostage Square after attendees watched a broadcast of the latest terrorist video featuring skeletal Israeli hostage Evyatar David holding a shovel inside a dark tunnel and saying he was digging his own grave.

The video came just a few days after Hamas released images of Nova festival survivor Rom Braslavski appearing “thin, limp, and crying,” with the hostage so emaciated that his family did not recognize him when they saw him.

“My Rom is hungry for bread, thirsty for water, sick, physically broken and mentally shattered,” his horrified father, Ofir Braslavski, told the crowd at the rally, CNN reported.

“My child is dying!

“I address you, Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu]: Enough! The phased approach to deals has failed. Make the decision already – end the war and bring everyone here,” the father urged.

“The hostages, the fallen soldiers, the fighters, the reservists, and those displaced from their homes. We want to rehabilitate, to return to life, to breathe,” he added.

Tami Braslavski, Rom’s mother, said she was heartbroken by the video of her son after the family authorized its full release to echo the torture of the hostages such as her child and David.

“I have never seen my son like this. Rom is not shouting or angry—he speaks quietly, in a weak voice like a person who has accepted the fact that there’s nothing left to fight for and may not come out of there alive,” she said in a statement.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said the conditions of the two hostages featured in the Hamas videos were further evidence that the war in Gaza needs to conclude immediately to get the captives the help they need.

“The recent release of horrific videos showing Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, emaciated and barely clinging to life, confirms what we’ve feared: they may not survive the next few days without immediate help,” the group said.

“We must do everything possible to secure a comprehensive deal that will bring all the hostages home and end this war.”

The protests come as President Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, claimed that the US and Israel are close to a “very, very good plan” to end the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages. 

Witkoff assured the families of the captives that the deal was in the works — despite both the US and Israel pulling back from the peace talks with Hamas earlier this month.