Security Council to meet on Gaza hostages: Israeli ambassador

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session on the hostages in Gaza, Israel’s ambassador said Sunday, as outrage built over their fate in the war-torn enclave, where experts say a famine is unfolding.

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, posted the announcement on social media amid anger over videos showing two of the hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas emaciated.

Danon said that the Council “will convene this coming Tuesday for a special emergency session on the dire situation of the hostages in Gaza.”

The videos make references to the calamitous humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned a “famine is unfolding.”

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.

Earlier Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross to get food to the hostages.

In response, Hamas’s 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.

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.