Gaza – Saba:
Israeli soldier Rom Barslavski, 22, held captive in Gaza, pleaded on Thursday for urgent food aid to be delivered into the Gaza Strip before he dies of hunger.
Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, released a video recording of Barslavsky, describing it as his final message before all contact was lost with the group holding him.
Speaking with a voice choked with tears, Barslavsky—who has been held for a year and nine months—spoke of the dire conditions he now shares with the people of Gaza, suffering from severe hunger and a lack of basic food supplies.
“The fighters used to give me small amounts of food,” he said, “but now there is nothing left.”
He continued: “The supplies are gone. All the food is gone.”
In an emotional appeal to the Israeli army, he said: “Please, send food before I die of hunger. What did I do to deserve this? Why are you doing this to me?”
He noted that fighters from the Al-Quds Brigades allowed him to watch television, through which he witnessed the harrowing scenes of starving children in Gaza due to the Israeli blockade.
“I saw children dying of hunger—skeletons. I have never seen anything like this before. Why torment innocent children? What did they do to deserve this?”
In a previous recording, Barslavsky had addressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly, asking: “Where are you trying to take us? What are you going to do with us? What are your next steps?”
He added, “Every day, you drop bombs. No doubt the next one will land on me. My blood is on your hands, Netanyahu.”
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