‘Hamas could free hostages and end war today’ – Captive’s brother

An Israeli hostage’s brother accused Hamas of holding both Israelis and Gazans hostage to prolong the war.

By World Israel News Staff

The brother of an Israeli hostage held in the Gaza Strip since the October 7th massacres said the plight of the captives is being ignored, while global attention has shifted to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza — a situation he says has been exacerbated by the Hamas terror group.

Evyatar David‘s brother, Ilay, is speaking out about the mainstream narrative about the ongoing war and what he describes as the demonization of Israel, while most world leaders gloss over Hamas’s hostage-taking and its role in obstructing humanitarian aid from reaching Gazan civilians.

The hostages “are the reason why the war hasn’t stopped yet, because if Hamas released them, the suffering would end,” David told the New York Post.

“And it’s hard that Hamas is using the suffering of its own people to manipulate us, to manipulate the Western world, to manipulate Americans,” he continued.

The terror group are “holding hostage not only my brother, not only 50 hostages – they hold the Gazans hostage, and they are cruel, and they make our life miserable, and they make the Middle East a miserable place,” he added. “So they are the ones to blame.”

David told the Post that he was “very worried about” the public forgetting the hostages, adding that he had seen how interest in their ordeal had “really dropped.”

David’s brother was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival nearly 22 months ago, alongside his best friend, Guy Gilboa-Dalal.

Neither family had any information about the pair’s wellbeing until a psychological warfare video featuring the two — shown being forced to watch the release of other hostages during the February ceasefire — was published by the Hamas terror group.

In the video, David and Gilboa-Dalal can be seen pleading for their freedom while sitting in a van, parked in front of a stage where other hostages are seen being freed.