Stop the unimaginable nightmare

Ilay David pleads with the members of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, 5 August, for the immediate and unconditional release of his brother, Evyatar David, and all the other hostages still being held in Gaza.

“To the leaders of the world, to every member of this council, and the global community: your silence in the face of this monstrous cruelty is complicity,” Ilay said. “I urge you, do not let them die. Do not let them spend another minute in darkness, suffering beyond imagination. Act now. Before it is too late.”

He described his youngest brother as “shy, but full of life. He has the soul of a musician”.

He said Evyatar was 22 when he was kidnapped from the Nova festival. “He went there to celebrate life, to dance and enjoy the music he loves.

“Since that day, my brother and the other hostages have endured an unimaginable nightmare. Their lives are truly hanging by a thread. We now know from medical reports that Evyatar and Guy [Gilboa Dalal] are on the brink of death. They may only have days left to live.”

Ilay recalled how in February, after 500 days in captivity, Hamas broadcast Evyatar and Guy being forced to watch their fellow captives being released and were then sent back into the dark tunnels.

“This weekend, we received a new video from hell. We were reminded just how much more cruel and inhuman Hamas and its sick partners can be. My brother is a living skeleton. He has barely strength to move or speak. In the video my little brother was forced to speak to the world and then actively begin to dig his own grave inside a filthy dark tunnel in Gaza.”

Ilay said that he and his mother couldn’t bring themselves to watch it because they knew if they did, they would be unable to function. “These images haunt my father and sister. My father cannot sleep, and my mother has not stopped crying.”

He told the United Nations Security Council that the video also showed how well-fed the Hamas terrorist in the frame was, confirming that they have plenty of food.

“The only ones starving in the tunnels are the hostages. This is a humanitarian crisis that is not being discussed here at the Security Council or any other UN forum. We will not give up hope. We are weeping, but we are also fighting with every fibre of our being to do what we can to get them home.”