As anger grew over footage of two of the prisoners appearing malnourished, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a plea to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday for assistance in rescuing the hostages in Gaza.
According to the premier’s office, he “requested his involvement in providing food to our hostages and… immediate medical treatment” after speaking with Julien Lerisson, the regional ICRC coordinator.
The ICRC reaffirmed its “call to be granted access to the hostages” and expressed its “appalled by the harrowing videos” in a statement.
In response, Hamas’s armed wing said 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.
Over recent days, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have released three videos showing two hostages seized during the October 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 fuelled renewed calls in Israel for a truce and hostage release deal.
A statement from Netanyahu’s office on Saturday said he had spoken with the families of the two hostages and “expressed profound shock over the materials distributed by the terror organisations”.
Netanyahu “told the families that the efforts to return all our hostages are ongoing”, the statement added.
Tens of thousands of protesters had gathered in Tel Aviv, a beachfront city, earlier in the day to demand that Netanyahu’s administration achieve the release of the remaining prisoners.
Images of David excavating what he claimed was his own grave in the contrived film caused a great deal of indignation in Israel.
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” will be convened by the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Israel’s UN ambassador said Sunday in a post on X.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the images “are appalling and expose the barbarity of Hamas”, calling for the release of “all hostages… immediately and unconditionally”.
