JNS
"We need to send the hostages our prayers, hope, powers, energy and strength to give them the hope to continue and survive," says Ilay David.
As uncertain times lie ahead, Ilay David, the brother of Hamas hostage Evyatar David, called on family and friends of the hostages still being held in Gaza not to lose hope.
“I see in my mind Evyatar hugging my parents in tears and I imagine us playing music as we did every week,” he told JNS on Sunday. “I know that he holds on to the same things and we just cannot lose hope. We need to send them our prayers, hope, powers, energy and strength to give them the hope to continue and survive because eventually they will be home."
Israel believes that fewer than half of the remaining 59 hostages, 58 of whom were taken into captivity by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, are still alive. The body of Lt. Hadar Goldin, killed in Gaza in 2014, is still being held by Hamas.
“Hell has been ongoing for the hostages in Gaza for more than 530 days. It doesn’t matter if there is a ceasefire or not. The hostages are still held in terrible conditions. They have been living in hell for almost a year and a half now,” Ilay David said.
Last month, Hamas published a propaganda video showing Israeli hostages Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David at their friends’ release ceremony from captivity in Gaza.
Hamas compelled the two to watch the ceremony from inside a vehicle as hostages Eliya Cohen, 27, Avera Mengistu, 39, Hisham al-Sayed, 36, Omer Shem Tov, 22, Tal Shoham, 40, and Omer Wenkert, 23, were released.
“We had no solid sign of life from Evyatar or Guy for 505 days," Evyatar's brother said. "Just imagine not knowing where your child is for 5 or 15 minutes. My mother didn’t know where her son was for 505 days and that is because of sadistic people who kidnapped Evyatar and many others from a music festival."
David said he had watched the video while U.S. President Donald Trump was addressing CPAC in National Harbor, Maryland.
"I and Guy’s older brother, Gal, listened as our phone exploded and we started seeing messages and phone calls. We got into Telegram and we saw that there was a video of Evyatar and Guy. I felt I was going to pass out,” he said.
“We watched it muted at the beginning. It was terrifying. I didn’t know what to expect and it felt again like Oct. 7 when we last watched a video of them. We saw that they are together and that they are alive,” he added.
Via that propaganda clip, David stressed, the whole world could now see what sadistic maneuvers Hamas terrorists were conducting.
“They brought them in a van to watch other hostages being released. It was the first time they saw sunlight in eight months and then they slammed the door on their faces as they begged for their lives and were thrown back to the tunnels,” he said.
“We saw their body language, the despair in their eyes, we saw how pale and how thin they are. Omer Wenkert, when he was released (on Feb. 22) after staying with them underground for eight months, said the terrorists fed them two weeks prior to the release because they were afraid that the video would otherwise backfire,” he said.
“Although they gave them more food two weeks prior they still looked starved,” he added.
Up until that point, David said, he had remained somewhat delusional, convincing himself that Hamas terrorists were keeping the hostages, their only asset, in good shape.
“They are kept in a very narrow small space 1 meter by 11 meters with barely enough space to stand. They are starved, humiliated, and abused. They have no day or night. They have a constant light above their head, they have no connection to the outside world and it’s happening for more than nine months before they were above ground. It was also hell but of another kind,” he said.
“My brother is suffering and being tortured every day and I have to live with that and do whatever I can to advocate on his behalf and be his voice,” he continued. “My parents are broken into pieces and they have to pick up those pieces and do whatever they can to bring their son back."
Last week, the IDF struck targets in Gaza marking the end of six weeks of a ceasefire with Hamas which led to the release of 33 hostages and three weeks of limbo in negotiations.
“I felt frustrated, anxious and worried. I’m still very worried. There are so many people who stayed behind,” David told JNS.
“The hostages are now in a very great danger to be executed or bombarded by the IDF by mistake, they are staying in a war zone because of Hamas. It makes me very worried,” he said.
David termed the most recent ceasefire-for-hostage deal which began on Jan. 19 as a “bad agreement.”
“ I knew Evyatar wouldn't be released in that agreement because the chances to continue to Phase 2 were so low. It was a bad agreement but I don’t know if there is a better option. Every time I go abroad and to the United States and speak with policymakers, I try to challenge them to think about a better solution or a better framework,” he said.
“We need something holistic and not small solutions along the way,” he added.
While acknowledging that military pressure puts hostages at risk, David noted that it had in the past led to conclusive results in negotiations with Hamas.
“The war brought us the first agreement in Nov. 2023. There was a massive military operation ongoing and it was a good deal in terms of saving as many lives as we could. I think that’s what the government is reaching for, something of that magnitude,” he said.
“I believe the Israeli government really wants the hostages back and I think they understand they cannot bring the hostages using military power only,” he continued. “Hopefully, it won’t backfire on us because that would be a very big black stain on both us and western values. If it does not lead to saving the hostages in the coming weeks or even days we probably made a mistake."
He concluded: “We also need actions and people to make it their first priority. That’s what we have—prayers and actions."
