Aug. 2: PM tells families of Evyatar David, Rom Braslavski he’ll work ‘without pause’ to bring them home

Kyiv under Russian missile attack, Ukraine says

Russia has launched a missile attack on Kyiv, the military administration of the Ukrainian capital says on its Telegram messaging app.

Reuters’ witnesses heard a loud blast shaking the city soon after midnight.

IDF says one rocket launched from Gaza, intercepted by air defenses

The IDF says air defenses intercepted one rocket launched toward Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Rocket warning sirens had sounded in Nirim and Ein HaShlosha, close to the Gaza border.

Syrian defense ministry says attack by Kurdish-led SDF injured 4 army personnel, 3 civilians

Syria’s defense ministry says that an attack carried out by the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the countryside of the northern city of Manbij injured four army personnel and three civilians.

The ministry says the attack was “irresponsible and for unknown reasons,” according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.

There is no immediate comment from the SDF.

Netanyahu says he spoke to families of Evyatar David, Rom Braslavski, ‘expressed deep shock’ over their condition

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held “extended conversations” with the families of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski this evening, the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement.

Netanyahu “expressed deep shock” at the harrowing videos released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad of the two hostages in recent days, and he “told the families that efforts to bring all our hostages home are ongoing and will continue without pause or rest.”

Addressing the video released by Hamas in which David appeared extremely emaciated in relation to allegations of widespread starvation in Gaza, Netanyahu says, “Hamas’s cruelty knows no bounds. While Israel allows humanitarian aid into Gaza for its residents, Hamas terrorists are deliberately starving our hostages and filming them in a cynical and malicious manner.”

“Hamas terrorists are also intentionally starving the residents of Gaza and preventing them from receiving aid — all while amplifying a false propaganda campaign against Israel,” the premier adds.

Netanyahu urges “the nations of the world” to condemn the “criminal, Nazi-like abuse by the Hamas terror organization.”

Israel’s answer to video of emaciated hostage must be ‘total destruction’ of Hamas, Smotrich declares

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says Israel will not give in to Hamas’s attempts at “manipulation” and will instead continue to fight “at full force” after the terror group released footage of hostage Evyatar David, who appeared severely emaciated and weak.

“Hamas’ goal in releasing the videos of the hostages is not to give us a sign of life, of course, but to be emotionally manipulative, abuse families, and tear apart our hearts, and, through the terror of manipulation, pressure us to surrender and stop the war before it is destroyed,” muses the far-right Religious Zionism leader.

“Obviously, this will not happen,” he says. “The answer to the cruel abuse of the hostages must be the complete destruction of this pure evil from the face of the earth, and the unconditional return of the hostages.”

He says the fight against Hamas must continue “at full force and without stopping for even a moment.”

French FM condemns ‘despicable, unbearable’ images of emaciated hostages

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot rails against the “despicable, unbearable” images of Israeli hostages held by Hamas and other Gazan terror groups, and demands their unconditional release.

“Their ordeal must end,” he writes on X in both French and Hebrew. “They must be released, unconditionally.”

“Hamas must be disarmed and excluded from governing Gaza,” he says, adding that, at the same time, humanitarian aid must be allowed to enter the war-torn enclave “on a massive scale.”

Images ignobles, insupportables, des otages israéliens détenus depuis 666 jours à Gaza par le Hamas. Leur calvaire doit cesser. Ils doivent être libérés, sans condition. Le Hamas doit être désarmé et exclu de la gouvernance de Gaza. L’aide humanitaire doit y entrer massivement.

— Jean-Noël Barrot (@jnbarrot) August 2, 2025

‘This is what starvation looks like’: Lapid, opposition leaders demand global condemnation of Hamas

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid and his fellow opposition party leaders demand global condemnation of Gaza’s terror groups for their treatment of the hostages they have held for the last 666 days.

In an English-language statement on X, Lapid shares a side-by-side comparison of Evyatar David before he was abducted from the Nova music festival, versus his appearance in a Hamas propaganda video in February of this year, versus the latest propaganda video published this weekend.

“This is what starvation looks like,” Lapid declares. “The entire world should condemn the murderous terrorist organization Hamas, which is intentionally starving the Israeli hostages it has held since October 7th,” he writes. “The entire world should join the call for the release of all the hostages. Now.”

Avigdor Liberman, the hawkish leader of Yisrael Beytenu, also opts to address the situation in English, writing on X that “Hamas is the devil incarnate.”

“Our hostages are being held as human shields in horrific conditions,” he states. “As long as they are in Gaza, Hamas knows that the IDF’s hands are tied.”

He says Israel must first recover the remaining 50 hostages, and only then “we can win and destroy Hamas.”

Finally, National Unity-Blue and White chair Benny Gantz suggests to “leaders of the world” that they reconsider the decision to recognize a Palestinian state, after several countries announced plans to do so or said they were considering the move.

“Instead of rewarding terror and recognising an illusionary Palestinian state – how about you first look at reality for what it is,” he writes on X, sharing a still image from the Hamas video of David, in which he says he is digging his own grave.

Dear Leaders of the world,

Instead of rewarding terror and recognising an illusionary Palestinian state – how about you first look at reality for what it is. pic.twitter.com/eAOsGhQnsc

— בני גנץ – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) August 2, 2025

Ex-IDF chief slams PM’s ‘unforgivable failures,’ as opposition leaders express horror over footage of emaciated hostages

Members of the opposition accuse the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of abandoning the hostages and ignoring their suffering, in statements expressing outrage over the emaciated state of hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David in the latest Islamic Jihad and Hamas propaganda videos.

“As chief of staff, I never imagined that there would come a day when we would see pictures of Jews dying and there would be no savior,” says Former IDF chief of staff and ex-National Unity MK Gadi Eisenkot.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the ‘October 7’ cabinet ministers are responsible for an unforgivable failure, and for the failed management of the war that brought us to this point,” he charges, demanding that they immediately make the “Jewish, ethical, moral decision to immediate sign a hostage deal — a comprehensive one, even at the cost of a permanent ceasefire.”

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid notes that on the agenda for the upcoming weekly cabinet meeting is, “for the seven-thousandth time: a discussion about threats to the prime minister’s life.”

Absent from the agenda, however, is any discussion on the hostages or about negotiations for their release.

“I obviously condemn any threat to the prime minister’s life, but he is the most secure person in Israel,” says Lapid. “I suggest replacing this topic with a discussion about the far more real threats to the life of Evyatar David.”

התמונות של רום ברסלבסקי ואביתר דוד שוברות את הלב. חייבים לצאת לרחובות כל יום, כל היום, עד שכולם יחזרו הביתה בעסקה. pic.twitter.com/v8QHB0yBMB

— Yair Golan – יאיר גולן (@YairGolan1) August 2, 2025

In a video from a demonstration on Begin Road, in Tel Aviv, The Democrats chair Yair Golan urges the public to take to the streets in protest as a way to “save our brothers and sisters” from captivity in Gaza.

“You saw the terrible photos of Rom and Evyatar, we must release them. They have no time,” says the left-wing leader.

He says the public must stage a “giant, powerful protest, every day, all day” until they and all the hostages are released.

“Don’t give up. We will save our brothers and sisters. We will bring everyone home,” he vows.

Freed hostage who was in tunnel with Evyatar David: Behind that curtain are Hamas terrorists with cable TV, A/C, and plenty of stolen food

A still of hostage Evyatar David taken from a Hamas propaganda video (left) released on August 1, 2025. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Released hostage Tal Shoham, who was held together with hostages Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal before he was released in February, says he recognizes the Gaza tunnel in which David was filmed by Hamas in propaganda material released in the past two days.

“That is exactly the same tunnel where [released hostage] Omer [Wenkert], Evyatar, Guy and I were held,” he tells Channel 12.

Shoham, who was released with Wenkert in February, says he was “shocked to the depth of my soul” to see the condition that Evyatar is in now, as shown in the Hamas video footage. “He is broken mentally, emotionally. I can’t see any of the joy of life that he had managed to retain in his eyes now…. Really, a shell of the Evyatar I knew.”

Asked what the Hamas video doesn’t show, Shoham says that “behind the curtain they’ve put up, which is just one of the blankets we used, apparently Guy Gilboa-Dalal is standing or sitting because they don’t let them go to a different tunnel.”

“And right behind the cameraman, there’s an iron door, and a well-lit room, with air conditioners and a group of terrorists who sit and sleep there. They have cable TV. They have plenty of food — food they have stolen from the humanitarian supplies that Israel sent in for a very long time. We could see that they were well fed, that they lacked for nothing. They also bragged about having stolen it, that they had months of supplies in that tunnel and all their tunnels.”

Freed hostage Tal Shoham speaks to Channel 12 news on August 2, 2025 (Screenshot)

Shoham says he lost 30 kilos during captivity. “We didn’t see that they lost even a kilo.”

Freed hostage Tal Shoham and his son Naveh on a helicopter en route to a hospital after his release, February 22, 2025 (IDF)

In February, he notes, he, Wenkert, David, and Gilboa-Dalal were filmed for propaganda purposes being given plenty of food to eat, in a video that was taken shortly before he and Wenkert were freed. (David and Gilboa-Delal were taken to the ceremony at which Shoham and Wenkert were released, forced to watch it from a van parked near the stage, and filmed pleading for release.)

Hostages Evyatar David (left) and Guy Gilboa-Dalal speak in a Hamas propaganda video filmed at the site and time of the release ceremony in Gaza for three other captives, February 22, 2025. (Screenshot: Telegram)

He notes that David was filmed in the latest video digging what he says he fears will be his own grave, obviously at the Hamas terrorist’s direction. “But I can see that he believes it. He really believes that [he and Guy] will end his life there.”

Hamas-held hostage Evyatar David filmed digging what he says he fears will be his own grave in a tunnel in Gaza, in a Hamas propaganda video that his family cleared for publication on August 2, 2025.

Shoham says he can see that David may not be able to hold on for many more days, and implores David and Giboa-Dalal: “Hold on… I want to believe that the government will do the right thing very soon — free you, do a deal.”

He also says he hopes pressure can be exerted on Hamas “to give you food, because there’s food meters away. Do everything you can to hold on,” he urges, “so that we can hug you both at home, God-willing, soon.”

Sa’ar urges counterparts not to remain silent in face of ‘sadistic abuse’ of hostages

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar is initiating a special session of the UN Security Council on the issue of the Israeli hostages, after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad released propaganda videos over the weekend in which hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David appeared severely emaciated, the Foreign Ministry says.

In an English-language statement on the matter, the ministry says Sa’ar expects his counterparts worldwide to “publicly express a moral and ethical stance and to exert every possible influence to end the terrible suffering of the Israeli hostages.”

“The world cannot remain silent in the face of the difficult images that are the result of deliberate sadistic abuse of the hostages, which also includes starvation by Hamas and Islamic Jihad,” says Sa’ar, in a message accompanying the statement.

‘My child is dying’: Father of hostage Rom Braslavski says he didn’t recognize his son in Islamic Jihad video

Ofer Braslavski, the father of hostage Rom Braslavski, speaks at Hostages Square, August 2, 2025. (Paulina Patiner / Hostages Families Forum)

Ofer Braslavski, the father of hostage Rom Braslavski, says at the Hostages Square rally that he didn’t recognize his emaciated son in the footage released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Thursday, and accuses the government of abandoning his son.

“Rom is a hero, and our country has abandoned him for 666 days now. Two days ago, we all saw the price of abandonment,” he says, referring to the video. “I saw my son and didn’t recognize him. My Rom is hungry for bread, thirsty for water, physically broken and mentally shattered. My child is dying.”

He demands that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strive for a comprehensive deal to end the war and release all the hostages.

“Enough! The partial deal strategy has failed,” he says. “While you and your government have procrastinated, my son and the rest of the hostages are paying the price.”

The footage of Rom Braslavski was released shortly before Hamas published a video of hostage Evyatar David looking severely emaciated.

Former hostage Omer Wenkert, who was held for some 250 days with David and fellow captive Guy Gilboa-Dalal, disputes the characterization of the footage of David as a “sign of life.”

“Really? How dare we call this thing a sign of life?” he says, adding that he “broke down crying” upon seeing the video.

“If there are hostages in Gaza, I can’t get out of there,” he says. “I’m captive in my own land.”

Report: One Palestinian killed, seven wounded in settler attack near Nablus

Palestinian media outlets report that one Palestinian was killed and seven others were wounded by gunfire during a settler attack near Aqraba, a village in the northern West Bank, close to Nablus.

Footage circulated on social media shows Israeli soldiers arriving at the scene.

It remains unclear whether the shooting was carried out by settlers or by the army.

The IDF has yet to issue a statement.

لحظة إطلاق النار تجاه الفلسطينيين خلال هجوم المستوطنين على سهل محفوريا، قرب بلدتي عقربا وجوريش، جنوب شرق نابلس. pic.twitter.com/Bupp9WrdrM

— القسطل الإخباري (@AlQastalps) August 2, 2025

Herzog speaks to parents of Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa-Dalal after latest Hamas propaganda video

President Isaac Herzog spoke to the family of Evyatar David earlier this evening, after Hamas aired a video of the hostage in which he appeared frail and emaciated.

The Office of the President says that Herzog also spoke to the mother of hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, who is being held together with David.

“The nation’s heart burns with worry and pain at the sight of the harrowing images,” he told the families, according to a readout from his office. “It is a chilling reminder of what goes on in the depths of Hamas’s terror tunnels — pure cruelty.”

Herzog told the families that the nation “will not rest, we will not be silent, and we will not take our eyes off the goal — to see Evyatar, Guy, and all the hostages return home safely,” his office says.

The president’s office says that during the conversation, David’s parents stressed to Herzog that their son is seriously unwell, and that the entire family is consumed by their anxiety for him.

“The president noted that the latest documentation once again exposes the crimes of Hamas — a terrorist organization that systematically starves its hostages, abuses them, and uses their bodies and suffering as a tool of propaganda,” Herzog’s office says. “All this while trying to incite global public opinion against Israel through a false starvation campaign, while it plunders humanitarian aid and withholds it from Gaza’s residents.”

Brother of hostage Evyatar David accuses Hamas of using captives as ‘live hunger experiments’

Yeela David, left, and Ilay David, respectively the sister and brother of hostage Evyatar David, speak at Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, August 2, 2025. (Lior Rothstein/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Ilay David, brother of hostage Evyatar David, accuses Hamas of using his younger brother and the other captives as “live hunger experiments” after the terror group released footage of Evyatar looking severely emaciated.

Speaking in English before a crowd of thousands at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Ilay demands that the humanitarian aid “meant to alleviate suffering” in the Strip also reach Evyatar and the other hostages.

Ilay describes himself as “a brother and a son whose heart is being torn apart watching helplessly, as my younger brother Evyatar David and his fellow hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal slip away. They are on the absolute brink of death.”

“In their current unimaginable condition, they may have only days left to live,” says Ilay. “Hamas is using Evyatar in one of the most horrific and calculated campaigns imaginable… they are starving him deliberately, systematically using his agonizing suffering as a twisted tool for their depraved propaganda.”

“This is not just a violation of international law — it is an assault on every shred of basic human decency,” says Ilay. “An act so vile it scars the very soul of humanity.”

He calls on the government of Israel and world leaders, especially US President Donald Trump, to bring about the hostages’ release “by any means necessary.”

Ilay David, brother of hostage Evyatar David, speak at Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, July 2, 2025. (Paulina Patiner / Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

“To remain silent now is to be complicit in their slow agonizing death,” he says.

Thousands gather at Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, August 2, 2025. (Yair Palti/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Yeela David, Evyatar’s younger sister, addresses her brother in Hebrew: “Mom is shattered and not functioning, Dad hears your voice at night and doesn’t close his eyes, but Ilay and I are taking care of them.”

“We are so waiting for your return and to recover together with you,” she says.

Israeli official: Hamas has plenty of food, is deliberately starving the hostages

Responding to videos released by Hamas over the past three days showing hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski looking emaciated, a senior Israeli source is quoted on Channel 12 as saying that the Hamas captors are not short of food, and are deliberately starving the hostages.

“We know from testimony of returned hostages and from our own information that the hostages’ captors don’t look like [the emaciated hostages],” the official says. “This is deliberate starvation, not only to abuse the hostages themselves but also to abuse their families and the public.”

Channel 12 also quotes visiting US envoy Steve Witkoff, who went to Gaza yesterday, telling the families that there is a shortage of food in the Strip, but no starvation. “After we debunk that claim, we can continue the negotiation,” it claims Witkoff said.

Channel 12 also quotes an Israeli source saying, “There is no deal in the offing. It’s not that the talks have been cut off, in the technical sense, but there is no real negotiation.”

The report notes Israel has made clear it wants “a comprehensive deal” rather than another phased or partial hostage-ceasefire agreement, as US envoy Steve Witkoff also told the hostages’ families earlier today. But, it goes on, there is not much prospect of bridging the gap between Israel’s demand for the destruction of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza and Hamas’s desire to remain in power.

The TV report notes that when the cabinet meets later this week, far-right ministers will be pushing for the full capture of Gaza, where the IDF currently controls some 75% of the territory, which would include entering areas where hostages are believed to be held. The IDF, it notes, opposes this.

Channel 12 political commentator Amit Segal says later in the broadcast that the Netanyahu government and the Trump Administration are in advanced contact regarding an ultimatum that would be issued to Hamas: Either Hamas frees all the hostages, lays down its weapons, and the US then coordinates an international administration to oversee Gaza’s governance after the war, or, if Hamas refuses, the US will give Israel a green light to act as it sees fit in Gaza.

Witkoff was quoted telling families of hostages earlier today that Trump is seeking a comprehensive deal to free all the hostages, and that the US wants the war to end, not expand.

Thousands rally for hostage deal in Tel Aviv after propaganda videos released of two hostages

Demonstrators rally in support of a deal to release hostages held in the Gaza Strip, at Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, August 2, 2025. (Dafna Yosha/Pro-Democracy Protest Movement)

Thousands gather at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv for a weekly rally demanding a deal to release hostages held in Gaza.

Relatives of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, of whom terror groups this week published propaganda videos, are set to speak at the event, as well as former hostage Omer Wenkert.

Rallies are simultaneously occurring at junctions, cities and towns nationwide.

70-year-old Jewish New Yorker among four US citizens held by Iran — report

A 70-year-old Jewish New Yorker is among four US citizens who are being held in custody in Iran, The New York Times reports.

The four prisoners all traveled to Iran to visit family, The New York Times reports, citing rights groups. The families request their relatives remain anonymous over fears their conditions could be worsened.

The 70-year-old Jewish man was among a pair of Americans arrested after the 12-day war with Israel last month, the Human Rights Activists News Agency and Hengaw rights groups say.

The man is a jewelry business owner and is being interrogated over a trip to Israel, the rights groups and his associates tell the Times.

The other is a Californian woman whose whereabouts are unknown after being evacuated from Evin prison, which was struck by Israel during the war, the Times says, citing rights groups and an Australian woman formerly held prisoner by Iran, Kylie Moore-Gilbert.

IDF says it killed deputy commander of Hamas’s Sheikh Radwan Battalion last week in Gaza

The deputy commander of Hamas’s Sheikh Radwan Battalion, known in the IDF as the al-Furqan Battalion, was killed in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip last week, the military says.

The IDF says the strike on July 24 killed Salah a-Din Zaara, who served as deputy commander of the battalion in Hamas’s Gaza City Brigade, and previously headed the battalion’s combat support company.

The deputy commander of Hamas's Sheikh Radwan Battalion, known in the IDF as the al-Furqan Battalion, was killed in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip last week, the military says.

The IDF says the strike on July 24 killed Salah a-Din Zaara, who served as deputy commander of the… pic.twitter.com/ogqxUxvl7B

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) August 2, 2025

Zaara was responsible for directing and advancing numerous attacks against Israel and IDF troops operating in the Strip, the military says.

Meanwhile, over the weekend, the Israeli Air Force struck over 130 terror targets in the Gaza Strip, according to the IDF.

The strikes come as four IDF divisions continue ground operations across Gaza.

In propaganda video, hostage Evyatar David forced by Hamas to dig what he fears will be his own grave

Hamas-held hostage Evyatar David filmed digging what he says he fears will be his own grave in a tunnel in Gaza, in a Hamas propaganda video that his family cleared for publication on August 2, 2025.

The family of Evyatar David, who is held hostage in Gaza, permits media outlets to show the full video of the captive that Hamas published today.

The remarks made by David, who appears frail, emaciated, and speaks in a weak voice, are likely dictated to him by his captors.

“Today is July 27, at 12:00 p.m., I don’t know what I’m going to eat,” he says. “I haven’t eaten for a few days in a row.”

“I am in a very, very difficult situation, for a long time, for a few months,” he says, describing the lack of food and water, and stating that his captors are giving him what they can.

“This isn’t fiction, this is real,” he says.

He says his diet consists mainly of some lentils and beans, pointing to a calendar and noting days he has eaten, and several days in a row when he hasn’t received food.

In the middle of the video, the person behind the camera hands him a can: “This can is for two days. This whole can is for two days so that I don’t die.”

Addressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he says he feels, “I have been completely abandoned by you, my prime minister, who is supposed to worry about me and all the prisoners.”

Hamas labels the hostages it took as “prisoners.”

At the end of the video, David describes himself digging what he fears will be his own grave inside the tunnel, as he is filmed doing so. He states that he is feeling “weaker and weaker” by the day, and heading toward death.

Group of hostages’ families: Nothing is left of our children except for bones; we stand before the destruction of the Third Temple

Families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza hold a press conference in Tel Aviv, on August 2, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held hostage in Gaza, says, “Nothing is left of our children except for bones,” at a weekly press conference by a group of hostages’ families in Tel Aviv.

“My Matan is going through a Holocaust, thanks to Israeli ministers,” she says.

She accuses the government of changing the goals of the war to conquering Gaza while forsaking the goal of securing the release of the hostages.

“If the government decides to expand military operations in Gaza instead of putting a total deal on the table, it will sentence the living hostages to death while erasing the fallen, while taking us further away from a solution for an indefinite period of time,” she says.

“This is a clearly illegal act with a black flag flying over it,” she says.

Itzik Horn, whose son Eitan is held hostage, warns that the country “stands before the destruction of the Third Temple,” an expression referring to the possible destruction of the modern State of Israel.

“The State of Israel can’t be the home for Jews while abandoning Jews to torture,” he says, demanding a “complete deal” to return the hostages.

IDF: Jordan, UAE, Egypt, Germany, and France drop 90 aid packages to Gaza

French military personnel prepare to airdrop parcels of humanitarian aid from a military aircraft flying over the Gaza Strip on August 2, 2025. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

Aircraft from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Germany, and France airdropped 90 packages of humanitarian aid, containing food, in the northern and southern Gaza Strip in the last few hours, the IDF says.

The IDF says the airdrops were carried out “in accordance with the directives from the political echelon and as part of the cooperation between Israel” and the involved countries.

The airdrops are part of a “series of actions aimed at improving the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip,” the military says.

“The IDF will continue to work in order to improve the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, along with the international community, while refuting the false claims of deliberate starvation in Gaza,” it adds.

Germany says aid entering Gaza still ‘very insufficient’; source says Berlin mulling ways to pressure Israel

Children watch as food parcels are airdropped in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on August 2, 2025. (AFP)

BERLIN, Germany — The amount of aid entering Gaza remains “very insufficient” despite a limited improvement, the German government says after ministers discussed ways to heighten pressure on Israel.

Germany “notes limited initial progress in the delivery of humanitarian aid to the population of the Gaza Strip, which, however, remains very insufficient to alleviate the emergency situation,” government spokesman Stefan Kornelius says in a statement.

“Israel remains obligated to ensure the full delivery of aid,” Kornelius adds.

The German government, traditionally a strong supporter of Israel, also expresses “concern regarding reports that large quantities of humanitarian aid are being withheld by Hamas and criminal organizations.”

A German government source tells AFP it had noted that Israel has “considerably” increased the number of aid trucks allowed into Gaza to about 220 a day.

The source says that a German security cabinet meeting today discussed “the different options” for putting pressure on Israel, but no decision was made.

A partial suspension of arms deliveries to Israel is one option that has been raised.

‘A living skeleton buried alive’: Family of Evyatar David okays release of 40-second clip of Hamas video, says he has only days to live

A still of hostage Evyatar David taken from a Hamas propaganda video (left) released on August 1, 2025. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

The family of Evyatar David permits media outlets to publish a 40-second clip of the hostage propaganda video Hamas released yesterday.

The video begins showing David, looking emaciated and pale, in what appears to be a tunnel in which he is being held captive in Gaza.

David is seen crossing off dates on a calendar on the tunnel’s wall.

In a statement, David’s family says, “We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar, deliberately and cynically starved in the Hamas tunnels in Gaza — a living skeleton buried alive.”

“Our son only has a few days to live in this condition. Hamas is using our son, Evyatar, as a living experiment in a disgusting hunger campaign,” the statement reads.

The family urges Israel and the international community to ensure that David receives food and is released from captivity.

A 40-second clip of a video published by Hamas of its hostage Evyatar David, on August 1, 2025. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Hamas releases additional footage of hostage Evyatar David

Hamas publishes additional footage of hostage Evyatar David, a day after releasing a short clip of the captive.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum requests that media outlets do not publish the footage until permission is received from David’s family.

A short while ago, David’s family approved the publication of 40 seconds of Friday’s Hamas video, which is one and a half minutes long and does not feature David talking.

The video issued by Hamas today is five minutes long and includes David giving a statement almost certainly dictated by his captors.

Hamas: Witkoff visit to GHF site aimed at ‘polishing the image of the occupation’; won’t disarm until Palestinian state with Jerusalem as capital

A child looks into a weapon as Hamas gunmen take up a position ahead of handing over the bodies of four slain Israeli hostages, including a mother and her two children, to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Hamas directly condemns US special envoy Steve Witkoff over his visit to a site operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Fund yesterday.

In a statement, it also vows not to disarm “as long as the occupation exists” and until there is a fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. That comment comes hours after Witkoff reportedly told the families that Hamas has said it is ready to demilitarize.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff meets with hostages’ families at Hostages Square, in Tel Aviv, August 2, 2025. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Hamas calls Witkoff’s visit “nothing more than a pre-arranged theatrical performance aimed at misleading public opinion, polishing the image of the occupation, and providing it with political cover for managing starvation and continuing the systematic killing of children and unarmed civilians from our people in the Gaza Strip.”

“Witkoff’s misleading statements, along with the broadcast of propaganda images attempting to portray the aid distribution as peaceful, are contradicted by the facts on the ground where he stood, where more than 1,300 innocent starving martyrs were shot by the bullets of the occupation army and the inhumane employees of the “Gaza Foundation,” which was established to complete the chapters of killing and genocide,” Hamas claims in a statement.

“The American administration is a full partner in the crime of starvation and genocide taking place in plain sight of the entire world,” it adds.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff (R) and US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee (center) tour a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution site on August 1, 2025. (Steve Witkoff/X)

Israel has denied allegations that it is purposely starving Gaza and committing genocide in the territory.

“We call on the American administration to bear its historical responsibility by lifting the cover from the crime of the century in Gaza and moving towards a ceasefire agreement that leads to ending the aggression, the withdrawal of the occupation army, and lifting the unjust siege on our people, instead of aligning with the policies of the occupation and its violations that shame humanity, which only deepen the humanitarian disaster and sustain the conflict in Palestine and the region.”

Hamas also says that it won’t disarm, vowing to continue its violent struggle “as long as the occupation exists.” It says this right “has been affirmed by charters and international norms, and they cannot be relinquished except by fully restoring our national rights, foremost among them is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with full sovereignty and Jerusalem as its capital.”

Family of Evyatar David publishes still from Hamas video, showing hostage pale and emaciated

A still of hostage Evyatar David taken from a Hamas propaganda video (left) next to photos of him in captivity in February (center), and before his capture in 2023. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

The family of hostage Evyatar David approves the publication of a still from a Hamas propaganda video released yesterday.

The still shows an emaciated and pale David in captivity, next to an image of him in February, and an image of him before being captured.

A still of hostage Evyatar David taken from a Hamas propaganda video (left) released on August 1, 2025. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

Witkoff said to tell families no progress in ‘complicated’ hostage talks but that ‘Hamas said it is ready to demilitarize’

US special envoy Steve Witkoff speaks to hostages' families at Hostages Square, in Tel Aviv, August 2, 2025. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

US special envoy Steve Witkoff told hostages’ families that he has no news of progress in talks with Hamas over the release of captives, Hebrew media quotes him as saying at a meeting earlier today in Tel Aviv.

“I hear your frustration. I understand that you want them home; part of the reason I am in this work is because I lost a child. I know what it is to lose a child. I wish that I had news for you. But the situation is complicated. There are many reasons [for this] that I cannot detail. Hamas is a terrorist organization,” he says, according to the reports.

Witkoff also reportedly says that part of ending the ongoing war requires the demilitarization of Hamas, and that “Hamas said that it is ready to demilitarize.”

“Beyond this, some Arab countries are demanding that Hamas disarm,” he is quoted as saying.

Witkoff emphasizes that US President Donald Trump cares a lot about the hostages and that his mission is to bring everyone home.

“Hamas looks as if it is not standing by its word. The negotiations with it were frustrating, and now we think we should do all or nothing,” he says.

Suspected terror stabbing at kibbutz entrance thwarted by guard

A suspected terrorist was “neutralized” after an attempted stabbing attack at the entrance of Kibbutz Metzer in northern Israel, Israel Police says in a statement.

The kibbutz guard “neutralized” the suspected attacker after he approached the gate, wielding a knife, the statement reads.

Jordanian army says it killed two armed people after ‘foiled infiltration attempt’ from Syria

Jordan’s armed forces say that its forces killed two armed people after a “foiled infiltration attempt” a day earlier through its border with Syria.

Gaza hospitals say eight killed seeking aid; GHF: ‘Nothing’ happened near our sites

Palestinians carry the body of a man killed while seeking food at a distribution point run by the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, near the Nusseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip on August 2, 2025. (Eyad BABA / AFP)

Hospitals in Gaza report the killing of more than a dozen people, eight of them food-seekers, by Israeli fire today as Palestinians endured severe risks in their search for food amid airdrops and restrictions on overland aid delivery.

Near a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution site, Yahia Youssef, who had come to seek aid this morning, describes a panicked scene now grimly familiar.

After helping carry out three people wounded by gunshots, he says he looked around and saw many others lying on the ground, bleeding.

“It’s the same daily episode,” Youssef says.

In response to questions about several eyewitness accounts of violence at the northernmost of the Israeli-backed American contractor’s four sites, the GHF media office says “nothing [happened] at or near our sites.”

WATCH: IDF says Hamas’s Beit Hanoun battalion has been defeated; three operatives surrender to troops

Hamas operatives surrender to IDF troops of the Givati Brigade in northern Gaza's Beit Hanoun, August 2, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

After three Hamas operatives surrendered to troops of the Givati Brigade in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun earlier today, the IDF says Hamas’s battalion in the town has been defeated.

The operatives emerged from a tunnel and surrendered to the forces in the area. The IDF says the operatives told the troops that they had sought to flee the area, after another gunman with them was killed during a previous exchange of fire with the military.

The Hamas gunmen also led the forces to a weapons depot near the tunnel from which they emerged, where the IDF says the troops found numerous weapons and equipment. Inside the tunnel, the troops also found food, water, and other supplies to be able to reside underground for long periods, the military says.

The IDF says the three operatives were taken for further interrogation, the weapons were seized, and combat engineers are mapping out the tunnel ahead of its demolition.

Weapons found by troops of the Givati Brigade in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, August 2, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

“The Beit Hanoun Battalion, which posed a threat to Nir Am and Sderot, has surrendered and been defeated by Givati Brigade troops,” the IDF says.

Last week, during a tour of Beit Hanoun, the commander of the Givati Brigade told reporters that there were just four or five remaining gunmen in the area.

Hamas operatives surrender to IDF troops of the Givati Brigade in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, August 2, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

The IDF has operated in Beit Hanoun five times since the beginning of the war, slowly degrading Hamas’s battalion there, which, before October 7, 2023, consisted of over 1,000 operatives.

The majority of the Hamas gunmen in the Beit Hanoun Battalion were either killed during the fighting or fled, like the battalion commander, Hussein Fayyad.

Hamas operatives surrender to IDF troops of the Givati Brigade in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun, August 2, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Witkoff to hostages’ families: ‘The plan is not to expand the war, but to end it’

US special envoy Steve Witkoff meets with hostages' families at Hostages Square, in Tel Aviv, August 2, 2025. (Paulina Patimer/ Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

US special envoy Steve Witkoff tells families of hostages in Tel Aviv that a majority of Israelis and Gazans want hostages held by Hamas to be returned, as quoted by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in a Hebrew statement.

“A majority of Israelis want the hostages at home, and a majority of Gaza’s public wants the return of hostages because they want the rehabilitation of the Strip,” he tells families at Hostages Square.

“There is no victory without bringing everyone home; all of you have become part of my family,” he adds.

“The plan is not to expand the war, but to end it,” he says, adding that talks should now focus on ending the war and bringing home all the hostages, instead of a partial deal.

According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the meeting went on for nearly three hours.

פגישת השליח המיוחד ויטקוף ומזשפחות החטופים נמשכת כבר קרוב לשעתיים. https://t.co/vaLduqBRCi

— מטה המשפחות להחזרת החטופים והנעדרים (@BringThemHome23) August 2, 2025

Katz says footage shows Hamas operatives surrendering to IDF troops in Gaza

Hamas operatives surrender to IDF troops of the Givati Brigade in northern Gaza's Beit Hanoun, August 2, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Defense Minister Israel Katz publishes footage of what he says are Hamas operatives surrendering to IDF troops in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun.

“Hamas terrorists are surrendering in Beit Hanoun. They are emerging from the burrows into the destroyed city. The IDF is destroying both the above and the underground [infrastructure] to defend the city of Sderot,” he says on X.

מחבלי החמאס נכנעים בבית חאנון.
יוצאים מהמחילות אל העיר ההרוסה.
צה"ל משמיד את העל והתת קרקע להגנת העיר שדרות. pic.twitter.com/DbtrCNCAWn

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) August 2, 2025

Anat Angrest: Ongoing crisis is ‘complete failure’ for PM, my son going through ‘second Holocaust’

Anat Angrest, whose son Matan is held hostage in Gaza, speaks at Hostages Square, August 2, 2025. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum/Paulina Patimer)

Anat Angrest, whose son Matan is held hostage in Gaza, says that the ongoing crisis is a “complete failure” for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, playing on his promise to achieve a “complete victory” over Hamas in the ongoing war.

Speaking at Hostages Square, Angrest says, “I am standing here because my son is going through a second Holocaust. I am the image of failure for the prime minister. I avoided using the word Holocaust until now, because I am a daughter of a Holocaust survivor.”

“My father is going through a second Holocaust through his grandson. We see videos of the Holocaust in color. The 2025 Holocaust is continuing and extending thanks to the Israeli government,” she says.

She recounts telling the government’s hostage pointman, Gal Hirsch, that her son was “skin and bones,” and that he replied to her that such comments were “Hamas propaganda.”

In response to the statement, Hirsch writes on X that the media have misrepresented his words, explaining that, in a personal message to a hostage relative last night, he said the videos released by terror groups of hostages “are part of Hamas’s starvation campaign,” and not that the captives’ suffering itself was propaganda.

US envoy Witkoff visits hostage families protesting in Tel Aviv

US special envoy Steve Witkoff at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, August 2, 2025. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum/Paulina Patimer)

US special envoy to the Mideast Steve Witkoff visits Hostages Square in Tel Aviv where families today set up a barbed wire camp to highlight the plight of the remaining captives.

Witkoff was greeted with applause by many of those demonstrating in the square before going into a meeting with representatives of the families.

ויטקוף הגיע לכיכר.@SteveWitkoff Help! pic.twitter.com/LiVkQlvGgD

— סשימי תבורי ????️✊ (@Guitaryahu) August 2, 2025

Our children are ‘skin and bones’: hundreds protest for hostages in Tel Aviv

Hostage families erect a barbed wire camp in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to draw attention to the plight of their loved ones on August 2, 2025 (Paulina Patimer/ Hostage Family Forum)

Hundreds of people take part in a protest for the hostages in Tel Aviv, where family members set up a barbed wire camp to draw attention to the plight of the captives after terror groups released videos in recent days showing the dire condition of hostages Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski.

“In recent days, we saw the difficult videos of Rom and Evyatar from captivity,” Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, says at the rally. “Our children are undergoing a Holocaust.”

“Jews are becoming skin and bones because of political survival,” she says, referring to accusations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prolonging the war in Gaza to appease his far-right coalition partners and stay in power.

“If we don’t free everyone now, they will not survive for much longer,” Zangauker says.

Families to erect barbed wire protest camp after new videos show hostages’ harsh condition

Hostage families erect a barbed wire camp in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to draw attention to the plight of their loved ones on August 2, 2025 Lior Rotstein/ Hostage Family Forum)

Families of the hostages held in Gaza and their supporters are erecting a barbed wire protest camp in Tel Aviv where they will sit to draw attention to their plight, saying that footage released of two of the captives this week shows that they are “dying in captivity.”

“Against the backdrop of horrifying footage and harsh reports about the hostages’ condition – hostage families will cry out this morning in the heart of Tel Aviv: A barbed wire fence compound will be erected in Hostages Square, family members will sit imprisoned within it – and cry out the desperate plea of their loved ones who are dying in captivity,” the Hostage Family Forum says in a statement.

“We appeal to the Israeli government and the US administration: Look our loved ones – and us – in the eyes. The danger to their lives is tangible and immediate. The risk of losing those deceased is growing. This is the time for a comprehensive deal and an end to the war. No more delays. No more leaving them behind. Stop this nightmare and bring them out of the tunnels and home,” the statement says.

The Hamas terror group on Friday published a new propaganda video of hostage Evyatar David, a day after Palestinian Islamic Jihad published a video of hostage Rom Braslavski.

The David family did not grant approval for airing the video to the public, but the footage was shared by some on social media, leading David’s sister to criticize those who did so. At the same time, she said, “Those who have seen it now understand how serious it is and the physical condition Evyatar was in.”

Woman killed, two injured as car plows into cyclists near Harish

Medics at the scene of a deadly accident near Harish on August 2, 2025 (Magen David Adom)

One woman was killed and two other people were injured when a car hit a group of cyclists near the northern city of Harish, police and medics say.

Magen David Adom paramedics treated the woman in her 40s but were forced to declare her dead at the scene. Two other cyclists were injured and taken to hospital in Hadera, with one of them in a serious condition.

Police detained the 19-year-old driver for questioning.

Trump says Witkoff’s trip focused ‘on getting the people fed, and that’s what we want’

US President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before walking across the South Lawn of the White House to board Marine One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, August 1, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

US President Donald Trump says the focus of his Special Envoy Steve Witkoff’s trip to Israel and the Gaza Strip was ramping up food aid to Palestinians in the coastal enclave.

“He had a great meeting with a lot of people, and the primary meeting was on food,” Trump tells reporters. “And he also had some other conversations that I’ll tell you about later, but he had a meeting on getting the people fed, and that’s what we want.”

Trump ‘very happy’ about Fed board vacancy after governor resigns

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he was “very happy” about an upcoming vacancy on the Federal Reserve’s board, shortly after the central bank announced an early resignation among its leadership.

Trump’s comments came after Fed governor Adriana Kugler submitted her resignation letter. Her term as a board member was due to end in January 2026, and her early departure next week allows Trump to appoint someone new to the Fed sooner than anticipated.

Poll: Majority of Israelis fear they won’t be able to travel abroad due to global criticism of Jewish state

Fifty-six percent of Israelis fear they won’t be able to travel abroad due to mounting global criticism of the Jewish state, as the war in Gaza drags on, a poll aired on Channel 12 indicates.

Forty percent of Israelis, on the other hand, don’t have such fears, according to the poll.