• The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades video showed an emaciated and bearded man
• Israeli media identified as Evyatar David, seized on Oct.7, 2023

JERUSALEM: The armed wing of Palestinian militant group Hamas released a minute-long video Friday of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza looking weak and malnourished, inside a narrow concrete tunnel.

The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades video showed an emaciated and bearded man that AFP and Israeli media identified as Evyatar David, seized on October 7, 2023.

AFP could not independently verify the video’s authenticity.

David, who turned 24 in captivity, was abducted during the Hamas attack that sparked the Gaza war along with his friend Gal Gilboa-Dalal. Both had been attending the Nova music festival in southern Israel.

They were among 44 festival-goers seized. Palestinian militants killed 370.

In late February, Hamas released a video showing David and Gilboa-Dalal inside a vehicle, watching a hostage release ceremony a few meters (yards) away.

Of the 251 hostages taken during the Hamas attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israeli restrictions on the entry of goods and aid into Gaza have led to severe shortages of food and other essential goods, triggering international demands for a ceasefire.

AFP