Israel puts image of starving hostage on Times Square billboard

In a high-profile move aimed at raising international awareness, the Israeli Foreign Ministry — together with the Consulate General of Israel in New York — is broadcasting footage from a recently released video of emaciated hostage Evyatar David on a large screen in New York’s Times Square.

The footage is accompanied by captions reading “Hamas is starving the Israeli hostages,” and “Ignored by the media too busy echoing Hamas propaganda.”

David was abducted by Hamas from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, and is being held in Gaza under dire conditions.

Evyatar David was kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova festival.
He’s being starved in Gaza.

With @IsraelinNewYork , we brought his story to Times Square because the world can no longer look away.

The hostages must be front and center on the global agenda.

We will not rest until… pic.twitter.com/XbWtQ8GzVx

— Israel ישראל (@Israel) August 4, 2025

“This is what real hunger looks like. This is what truth looks like,” Consul General Ofir Akunis says in a statement to The Times of Israel.

“Evyatar David is being starved by a Nazi terrorist organization that dares, with the backing of parts of the media, to spread the blood libel that Israel is starving the people of Gaza,” Akunis says.