Hamas releases hostage video

[Anchor]

The Palestinian armed group Hamas has released videos of Israeli hostages.

The footage shows emaciated bodies pleading, "Please stop this hell."

Calls for a ceasefire to facilitate the return of hostages are increasing, but hardline views still prevail within the Israeli cabinet.

This is a report from Kim Gae-hyung in Dubai.

[Report]

Israeli hostage Braslavski, collapsed on the ground, cries out for even a piece of food.

He pleads to be freed from this horrific hell.

[Rom Braslavski/Israeli Hostage: "Please stop this hell that is tightening around us. Please, just give us food."]

Another hostage, David, struggles to dig with a shovel, his body reduced to skin and bones.

His desperate confession that he is "digging his own grave" is filled with a fear of death.

[Eviatar David/Israeli Hostage: "What I am doing now is digging my grave. I am digging thinking this will be my grave."]

The families of the hostages, while enraged by Hamas's brutality, have demanded the Israeli government to immediately negotiate a ceasefire to bring the hostages home.

Tens of thousands of citizens gathered in Tel Aviv also called for an end to the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that he was deeply shocked, but his solution was different.

He aims to defeat Hamas's malicious propaganda and rescue the hostages through a decisive military victory.

[Benjamin Netanyahu/Israeli Prime Minister: "We will eliminate Hamas and ensure that the Gaza Strip no longer poses a threat to Israel."]

Nearly 22 months after their abduction, concerns are growing for the lives of about 20 surviving hostages, and Israeli media reports that a decision on whether to expand military operations will be made this week.

This is Kim Gae-hyung reporting for KBS News from Dubai.