Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for help aiding hostages in Gaza, as outrage built at videos showing two of them emaciated.
The pime minister’s office said that he spoke to the ICRC coordinator for the region, Julien Lerisson, and “requested his involvement in providing food to our hostages and ... immediate medical treatment.”
The ICRC in a statement said that it was “appalled by the harrowing videos” and reiterated its “call to be granted access to the hostages.”
Photo: AFP
In response, Hamas’ armed wing said that it would allow the agency access to the hostages, but only if “humanitarian corridors” for food and aid were opened “across all areas of the Gaza Strip.”
The al-Qassam Brigades said it did “not intentionally starve” the hostages, but they would not receive any special food privileges “amid the crime of starvation and siege” in Gaza.
Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have released three videos showing two hostages seized during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war.
The images of Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, both of whom appeared weak and malnourished, have fueled renewed calls in Israel for a truce and hostage release deal.
A statement from Netanyahu’s office on Saturday said that he had spoken with the families of the two hostages and “expressed profound shock over the materials distributed by the terror organizations.”
Netanyahu “told the families that the efforts to return all our hostages are ongoing,” the statement added.
Earlier in the day, tens of thousands of people had rallied in the coastal hub of Tel Aviv to call on Netanyahu’s government to secure the release of the remaining captives.
There was particular outrage in Israel over images of David, who appeared to be digging what he said in the staged video was his own grave.
The videos make references to the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned a “famine is unfolding.”
An emergency session on the “dire situation of the hostages” is to be convened by the UN Security Council today, the Israeli ambassador to the UN said on Sunday on social media.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said the images “are appalling and expose the barbarity of Hamas,” calling for the release of “all hostages ... immediately and unconditionally.”
Kallas said in the same social media post that “Hamas must disarm and end its rule in Gaza” — demands endorsed earlier this week by Arab nations, including key mediators Qatar and Egypt.
She added that “large-scale humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach those in need.”
Israel has heavily restricted the entry of aid into Gaza, while UN agencies, humanitarian groups and analysts say that much of what Israel does allow in is looted or diverted in chaotic circumstances.
Many desperate Palestinians are left to risk their lives seeking what aid is distributed through controlled channels.
Gaza’s civil defense agency on Sunday said that Israeli fire killed nine Palestinians who were waiting to collect food rations from a site operated by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) near the southern city of Rafah.
“The soldiers opened fire on people. I was there, no one posed any threat” to the Israeli forces, 31-year-old witness Jabr al-Shaer said by telephone.
There was no comment from the military.
Five more people were killed near a different GHF aid site in central Gaza on Sunday, while Israeli attacks elsewhere killed another five people, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal said.
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