‘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, 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.”