Middle East: Benjamin Netanyahu says he is "appalled" by videos of Israeli hostages

The country is horrified. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was "appalled" by the latest videos released by Hamas of the hostages in the Gaza Strip and spoke with the families.

The publication since Thursday by Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad of three videos showing two emaciated Israeli hostages has revived the debate in Israel on the need to reach an agreement as quickly as possible to free them.

Very weak and emaciated

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening to demand the release of the hostages, illustrating the emotion that has once again gripped the country.

"The Prime Minister expressed deep dismay at the recordings released by the terrorist organization Hamas and told the families that efforts to bring back all our hostages continue," his office said.

In the propaganda images of the two Islamist groups, the two captives appeared very weak and very thin , in a staging aimed at drawing a parallel with the humanitarian situation in Gaza, threatened by "general famine" according to the UN.

The sequence of a hostage digging, shovel in hand, in the sandy soil of the narrow tunnel where he is being held, pretending to dig his own grave, was particularly shocking.

Conversation with families

Benjamin Netanyahu, according to his office, had a "long conversation" on Saturday with the families of Rom Breslevski and Avyatar David, both of whom were featured in the latest videos. "Hamas's cruelty knows no bounds," he commented, denouncing the "cynical and odious" staging.

He again accused Hamas of "also deliberately starving the people of the Gaza Strip, preventing them from receiving aid." President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar responded in kind.

This Sunday, the start of the week in Israel, the headlines remained largely devoted to the subject: "Hungry, emaciated and desperate" (Yedioth Ahronoth), "Hell in Gaza" (Ma'ariv), "Cruelty without limits" (Israel Hayom), "Netanyahu is in no hurry" (Haaretz).

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, denounced "appalling images of Israeli hostages" on Sunday. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot also expressed his dismay at the "vile images."