Hamas starving hostages ‘like the Nazis starved the Jews,’ Netanyahu says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday evening accused Palestinian terrorists of starving the hostages they have held in the Gaza Strip for 668 days “like the Nazis starved the Jews."

“I too was horrified yesterday,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office. “I saw the horrific videos of Rom and Evyatar, our dear sons. I called their families and embraced them on behalf of me and my wife, but also on your behalf. You see them languishing in a dungeon.”

Lat week, Hamas released a propaganda video showing Evyatar David in an extremely emaciated state, held in a Gazan tunnel, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad did the same for Rom Braslavski.

Digging "my own grave"

The videos showed David, 24, digging what he says will be his own grave and detailing severe starvation, while Braslavski, 22, also appears on the verge of death.

“The Hamas monsters surrounding them—they have thick, fleshy arms,” the premier said on Sunday night. “They have everything they need to eat. They are starving them the way the Nazis starved the Jews.”

According to Netanyahu, the Hamas propaganda proves that the terrorist organization does not intend to agree to a hostage deal.

"We will not break"

“It wants to break us with these horror videos, with the false propaganda of horror it spreads around the world,” he said. “But we will not break."

“I am filled with an even stronger determination to free our kidnapped sons, to eliminate Hamas and to ensure the Gaza Strip will never again pose a threat to the State of Israel,” Netanyahu’s statement added.

Earlier on Sunday, the leader of the Jewish state asked Julien Lerisson, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Israel, to immediately provide food and medical care to all the hostages.

Israeli hostages "are being subjected to inhumane physical and mental abuse"

Netanyahu told Lerisson that “Hamas’s starvation libel is reverberating around the world, while the systematic starvation is carried out against our hostages, who are being subjected to inhumane physical and mental abuse,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

The international community should not remain indifferent “to the shocking images, which are reminiscent of Nazi atrocities,” the PMO statement continued. “The prime minister demanded the involvement of the entire world in condemning the terror organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and ceasing direct and indirect support for them.”

Netanyahu emphasized to Lerisson that the abuse of the hostages by the terrorist groups “violates international law and the Geneva Convention.”

Hamas, prepared to feed the captives only if Israel would open all aid crossings

Earlier, Hamas said it was prepared to feed the captives only if Israel would open all aid crossings permanently and halt “all forms of air traffic” during the delivery of aid by the Red Cross.

Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum slammed the terrorist group’s announcement, noting that Hamas “has the obligation to provide them with everything they need” and release them.

“Hamas kidnapped them and they must care for them. Every hostage who dies will be on Hamas’s hands,” the forum said. “The shocking reality is that the Red Cross has never had access to these hostages during this entire horrific period. Our loved ones have been denied medical care, food and all communication with us for over 660 days.

"Only the immediate release of all hostages can truly save their lives"

“We welcome the possibility of Red Cross access for the first time and we urge that medical checks and food be delivered without delay. However, we must be clear: While Red Cross assistance is desperately needed, only the immediate release of all hostages can truly save their lives.”

Fifty hostages remain in captivity in Gaza, including 20 to 22 who are believed to be alive after being taken during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel.

Netanyahu is set to convene the Security Cabinet on Tuesday to decide the next phase of the war in the Gaza Strip, as Hamas continues to reject all deals proposed by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt.

Sources close to the matter told Israel Hayom on Monday that a rift has emerged between the Jewish state’s political and military leadership over how to proceed now that the negotiations have collapsed.

Division over the next phase of war

While Israel Defense Forces officials, including Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, support encircling Hamas-controlled areas in Gaza until the terrorist organization surrenders, some politicians are urging a full-scale reoccupation of the enclave.

Some Cabinet members, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, are calling for a full reoccupation of the Gaza Strip even in areas where hostages are believed to be held.

Netanyahu was said to be pushing for an approach aimed at defeating Hamas while enabling aid supplies to enter areas outside active combat zones and, where possible, that are not under Hamas control.

Trump: "Hamas doesn’t “want to give them back”

Jerusalem will have to make a decision on next steps in the war, U.S. President Donald Trump said on July 27, adding that he did not know what would happen after the terrorists blew up the truce negotiations.

“You know, they had a routine discussion the other day and, all of a sudden, they hardened up,” he said of the talks, speaking alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland.

Hamas doesn’t “want to give them back,” Trump said of the captives.

Witkoff: "“It is a shame that Hamas has acted in this selfish way”

“So Israel’s going to have to make a decision,” the president continued. “I know what I do, but I don’t think it’s appropriate that I say, but Israel is going to have to make a decision.”

On July 24, U.S. Mideast envoy Witkoff said the Trump administration would examine “alternative options” to bring home the captives as Hamas “does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith.”

Witkoff went on to say that “it is a shame that Hamas has acted in this selfish way,” emphasizing that Washington remained “resolute” in its desire to achieve peace.

The comments came shortly after the Prime Minister’s Office stated that “in light of the response delivered by Hamas this morning,” Jerusalem had decided to recall its negotiating team for consultations.

Trump told journalists on July 25 that Hamas’s obstruction of the truce negotiations “got to a point where you’re going to have to finish the job.”

In a reference to the Jewish state, Trump said, “So they pulled out [of the negotiations], and they’re going to have to fight. They’re going to have to clean it up. They’re going to have to get rid of [Hamas terrorists].”

© JNS