"Digging My Own Grave": Israeli Hostage Breaks Down Inside Hamas Tunnel

A video released by the Palestinian group Hamas shows an Israeli hostage visibly emaciated, digging what he describes as his own grave in an underground tunnel.

This marks the second such video of Evyatar David, 24, circulated by the Palestinian group within 48 hours. In the footage, David, who appears skeletal and barely able to speak, is seen using a shovel in what appears to be a confined underground tunnel. He speaks slowly and faintly to the camera, narrating his ordeal. 

"What I'm doing now is digging my own grave," David says in Hebrew. "Every day my body becomes weaker and weaker. I'm walking directly to my grave. There is the grave where I am going to be buried in. Time is running out to be released and be able to sleep in my bed with my family."

How psychopathic is Hamas?

It forced starving hostage Evyatar David to DIG HIS OWN GRAVE for the cameras. pic.twitter.com/iMa404St4s

— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) August 2, 2025

David breaks down as he finishes the statement.

The family of Evyatar David has approved the video's release. In a statement, they said, "The deliberate starvation of our son as part of a propaganda campaign is one of the most horrifying acts the world has seen. He is being starved purely to serve Hamas's propaganda." 

David is among 49 hostages still held by Hamas and allied Palestinian factions in Gaza, captured during the October 7, 2023, attack that killed 1,219 people in Israel, most of them civilians. In retaliation, Israel launched a devastating offensive against Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of over 60,000 people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that the prime minister spoke with David's family after the release of the video and expressed his "profound shock" at the footage. The PM reiterated that the government's efforts to secure the release of all hostages were continuing "constantly and relentlessly."

Netanyahu accused Hamas of "deliberately starving our hostages" and publicising it "in a cynical and evil manner."

In addition to the footage of David, Hamas and Islamic Jihad released another video showing hostage Rom Braslavski, 21, a dual German-Israeli citizen, also appearing gaunt and weak. Both clips have intensified public calls in Israel for renewed negotiations to secure the hostages' release.

Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening to demand immediate government action on the hostages. The rally was one of the largest since the start of the war.