• Military

August 4, 2025, 4:42 PM View Comments ()

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Israeli hostages trapped in Gaza, U.S. anger at India’s trade relationship with Russia, and South Korea’s latest effort to ease tensions with North Korea.

‘I Haven’t Eaten for Days’

New footage showing Israeli hostages in Gaza under extreme duress has reignited global outcry against Hamas’s treatment of its captives as well as renewed pressure on the Israeli government to do more to end the war.

Last week, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad released videos showing captives Rom Braslavski, 21, and Evyatar David, 24, visibly weakened and pleading for food. In the videos, Braslavski is seen crying and unable to stand, and David is filmed digging what he describes as his own grave. “I haven’t eaten for days,” David says in the video. “I barely got drinking water.” Both men were abducted from the Nova music festival during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Around 50 hostages remain in Gaza, only about 20 of whom are believed to still be alive. Yet negotiations to free the captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners have stalled, largely due to Israel seeking to expand its military operations in Gaza and Hamas demanding that the territory’s hunger crisis be addressed before the group continues talks.

The push to widen Israel’s military campaign reflects “a wish to see all the hostages come back and the wish to see the end of this war after the talks for a partial deal” were “not successful,” Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday.

Western leaders expressed outrage over the videos and called for the captives’ unconditional release. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy called the footage “sickening,” French President Emmanuel Macron described Hamas’s actions as “abject cruelty,” and European Union foreign-policy chief Kaja Kallas said that the images expose “the barbarity of Hamas.” The United Nations Security Council is expected to hold an emergency session on Tuesday to discuss the hostage crisis, which human rights experts have warned could constitute a war crime.

The International Committee of the Red Cross urged Hamas on Sunday to allow the agency to deliver lifesaving food and medical supplies to the captives. Hamas said it was prepared to cooperate with the Red Cross if Israel meets certain conditions, including the permanent reopening of humanitarian corridors into Gaza and the halting of Israeli airstrikes during aid distribution. At least 175 Palestinians (including around 93 children) have died from starvation or malnutrition since the Israel-Hamas war began, including six people in the past 24 hours, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that he will convene his cabinet this week to discuss how the country can meet its three wartime goals: defeating Hamas, rescuing the hostages, and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel. But his efforts may be too little, too late for many of the hostages’ families. Hundreds of people gathered in Tel Aviv over the weekend to protest the government’s lack of action to free the captives, as many Israelis believe that Netanyahu is allowing the war to continue to maintain his grip on power.

Netanyahu has pledged that his efforts to release the hostages “will continue constantly and relentlessly.” However, an Israeli official told local media that the prime minister is working to do this through “the military defeat of Hamas.”

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The World This Week

Tuesday, Aug. 5: Israeli President Isaac Herzog visits Latvia.

Malaysian King Sultan Ibrahim begins a six-day trip to Russia.

Wednesday, Aug. 6: Herzog visits Estonia.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosts Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric in Washington.

Karol Nawrocki is sworn in as Poland’s new president.

Friday, Aug. 8: The White House’s revised deadline for Russia to make progress toward a cease-fire deal with Ukraine or face further sanctions expires.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. concludes a five-day visit to India.

Monday, Aug. 11: Testimony for former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s corruption trial is set to begin.

What We’re Following

New Delhi’s oil supplier. U.S. President Donald Trump accused India on Monday of effectively financing Moscow’s war against Ukraine by continuing to buy Russian oil. “India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding, “They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine.”

Trump’s statement is among the administration’s harshest criticisms yet of New Delhi. It comes just days after the White House imposed a 25 percent tariff on India for what Trump considers its unfair trade practices and threatened an unspecified additional penalty for its purchases of Russian oil, energy, and military equipment. It also follows Trump threatening a 100 percent secondary duty on all countries that buy crude from the Kremlin if Russia doesn’t make progress toward a cease-fire deal with Ukraine.

Russia has become India’s largest oil supplier since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, and during the first half of this year, the Kremlin provided roughly 35 percent of India’s total oil. India’s imports “are a necessity compelled by global market situation,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. “However, it is revealing that the very nations criticizing India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia.”

Lowering the volume. South Korean authorities began removing speakers blaring anti-North Korean regime messages from the two countries’ demilitarized border on Monday as part of a new effort by Seoul to ease tensions with Pyongyang.

According to South Korea’s Defense Ministry, dismantling the loudspeakers is a “practical measure.” But North Korea maintains that it has no interest in reopening talks with its neighbor. “We reiterate our official position that we have no interest in any policies established or proposals made in Seoul, and that we have no intention of meeting with South Korea or discussing any issues with it,” Kim Yo Jong, a sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said in late July.

Newly elected South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has made easing pressures with North Korea a priority of his administration. Since taking office in June, Lee has switched off propaganda broadcasts, reversing former leader Yoon Suk-yeol’s decision to blast world news, criticism of the North Korean regime, pro-democracy messaging, and K-pop music as well as fly pamphlets into North Korea in response to Pyongyang sending trash- and excrement-filled balloons into South Korean territory.

Historic military drills. India and the Philippines concluded a two-day joint naval exercise in the South China Sea on Monday. This was the first time that the two countries staged such a high-profile military deployment in the disputed area, though Manila maintains that the activity took place inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

In response, China’s Southern Theater Command said it conducted routine patrols nearby to impose its claim over the maritime territory. “We did not experience any untoward incident, but we were still shadowed,” Philippine military chief Romeo Brawner said. “We expected that already.”

Beijing has territorial disputes with both India and the Philippines; China has a longtime land border feud with India over parts of the Himalayas, and both China and the Philippines claim control over much of the South China Sea, which serves as a key global trading route. New Delhi and Manila have accused Beijing of using these disputes to sow instability in the Indo-Pacific.

Odds and Ends

Two motors, both alike in construction, in fair Estonia where we lay our scene. If you recognize these words (albeit, with some modifications), you may also be a fan of William Shakespeare’s tragic play Romeo and Juliet. However, an independent Estonian theater group is bringing a new twist to the classic production: casting vehicles to play the Montagues and Capulets. Set in a disused limestone quarry, a rally truck portrays the dashing Romeo, and a red Ford pickup truck depicts the young Juliet. The fatal sword fight between Tybalt and Mercutio has been transformed into a battle of excavators, and even the play’s dying kiss is a pressing of mechanical limbs. For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.