Netanyahu Appeals To Red Cross Following 'Profound Shock' Over Gaza Hostage Videos

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday requested the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross to help hostages in Gaza, after a video of two of them, looking weak and malnourished, has sparked outrage.

The ICRC coordinator for the region, Julien Lerisson, and Israel's top office have communicated, and “requested his involvement in providing food to our hostages and... immediate medical treatment”.

The Geneva-based international organisation ICRC said in a statement it was “appalled by the harrowing videos” and reiterated its “call to be granted access to the hostages,” AFP reported.

Hamas’ armed wing had stated that it would allow ICRC access to the hostages only if humanitarian corridors for food and aid were opened across all areas of the Gaza Strip.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing,  said that the hostages “eat what our fighters and all our people eat” and that “they will not receive any special privilege amid the crime of starvation and siege,” Al Jazeera reported.

The group’s spokesperson also said that it is “ready to act positively and respond to any request from the Red Cross to deliver food and medicine to enemy prisoners.”

Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, were taken hostage during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. They are among the 49 hostages still held in Gaza following Hamas’s 2023 attack—27 of whom, according to the Israeli military, are believed to be dead. The majority of the 251 hostages taken during the assault were released during two brief ceasefires, with some freed in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli custody.

The video of Braslavski and David has initiated a renewed call for peace talks, as thousands gathered in Tel Aviv to demand the government to secure a hostage release deal.

An August 2 statement from Netanyahu’s office stated that the PM spoke to 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.”

Israel had put a blockade on entry of food and assistance into Gaza and has been accused of implementing forced starvation on Palestinians. The curbs have eased in the past week amid mounting international pressures, with many countries now airdropping food and aid into Gaza. 

The Palestinian Ministry of Health on Sunday said that six more Palestinians died of forced starvation and malnutrition in Gaza. The Health Ministry also said that the total number of people dying due to starvation has reached 175, including 93 children, since Israel’s war began in October 2023. 

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society stated that one of its staff members was killed in an Israeli strike on its headquarters in Khan Younis.