Over the weekend, the world watched as Hamas released the remaining living hostages it held in captivity for the past two years. These men were all gaunt, weakened by months of starvation and abuse at the hands of their terrorist captors.
Back in August, Hamas released disturbing footage of one of those hostages, Israeli Evyatar David. David was emaciated and forced to dig his own grave.
Now we're learning that Hamas spent two years trying to get these captives to convert to Islam, and tried to bribe them with food if they became Muslim.
Hamas Offered Starving Hostages More Food If They Converted to Islam -- and They Refused https://t.co/jRA7IOGvNG via @BreitbartNews
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) October 16, 2025
Hamas offered starving hostages more food if they converted to Islam — and they refused, according to statements by families of some of the 20 living hostages who were returned to Israel earlier this week.
Hamas is an Islamist terrorist group whose ambitions extend beyond destroying Israel, and include converting the entire world to Islam by force. The name Hamas is an acronym, in Arabic, of the words “Islamic Resistance Movement” — a fact often overlooked by pro-Palestinian activists in the West.
Families of the hostages, returned in U.S. President Donald Trump’s ceasefire deal, had described Hamas’s attempts to convert their relatives in captivity — and the heroic efforts of the starving hostages to resist.
And resist they did. They even used Hamas's zeal against them, to listen to Israeli military radio broadcasts instead of Muslim stations.
Recommended
Hamas tried to make the hostages convert to Islam, a situation the hostages managed to use to their advantage by tinkering with a radio that had been tuned to a Muslim station. They tuned into Israeli Army Radio instead. Unreal courage. https://t.co/HU8s0FsWV5 pic.twitter.com/psLPS1ksPw
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) October 16, 2025
It gave the hostages much-needed hope. Here's more:
Ohana and another hostage were also made to listen to Muslim religious messages via a radio, his father said — a situation they managed to turn to their advantage. By playing with the radio’s wires, he said, they were able to tune into Israeli army radio, where Ohana heard his father being interviewed.
“He said to himself, ‘My father is alive! He is waiting for me!’ and it gave him new life,” the rabbi shared.
Rom Braslavsky, one of the Israeli hostages, refused to convert. "I am a strong Jew," he said.
Tami, Rom Braslavsky‘s mother: In exchange for food, the captors told him to convert to Islam. He said, ”I am a strong Jew”. He suffered from hunger and beatings. He spent two years alone in harsh conditions, part of that time near the bodies of dead hostages. pic.twitter.com/urF2K268Ua
— RealPalestina(א"י) 🇮🇱 (@LollllllaJR) October 15, 2025
And when Braslavsky came home, he reasserted his Jewish faith.
They tried to make him convert to Islam - offering food and "treats" if he’d read the Quran or fast during Ramadan. He refused. Every time. The moment he came home, he put on tefillin. pic.twitter.com/Gfhsy9NgXz
— נועה מגיד | Noa magid (@NoaMagid) October 15, 2025
This is clearly not a "land dispute" or "resistance," as so many of the pro-Hamas Left have insisted.
Hamas tortured a hostage by offering extra food if he would convert from Judaism to Islam.
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) October 16, 2025
Remember that the next time someone tries to convince you that this is a land dispute and not an Islamic holy war. pic.twitter.com/BRARl3lwiz
This is an Islamic holy war, and the abuse and torture of hostages who didn't convert to Islam is proof of that.
Editor's Note: Donald Trump is America's Peace Time President. Support and follow Townhall's latest reporting on the president's historic trip to the Middle East.
Join Townhall VIP and use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member