Fifty Israeli hostages remain in captivity nearly 10 months after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks.
Terrorist group Hamas said on Sunday it is willing to allow aid to reach Israeli hostages held in Gaza, but only if Israel agrees to permanently open humanitarian corridors and halts its airstrikes during aid distribution.
Hamas has so far barred humanitarian organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), from accessing the hostages. Coordination with the ICRC, the group said, depends on Israel’s actions on the ground.
The announcement comes amid growing international condemnation over the treatment of hostages held in Gaza. Fifty hostages remain in captivity following Hamas’s cross-border attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to the Israeli Ministry of Affairs.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar described the condition of the hostages as dire, saying they had been starved and tortured. He called for their immediate and unconditional release.
Calls for hostages to be released also came from the United States, European governments, and international aid organizations, including the ICRC.
U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that the fastest way to end the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is for Hamas to surrender and release the hostages.
The U.N. Security Council (UNSC) is scheduled to hold a special session on Tuesday to discuss the situation of hostages in Gaza. Sa’ar thanked the United States and Panama for helping convene the UNSC meeting.
Videos of Emaciated Hostages
Israeli leaders accused Hamas of carrying out systematic starvation and torture of hostages after videos of two of them were released last week.
On Thursday, Palestinian Islamic Jihad released video footage of hostage Rom Braslavski, appearing visibly malnourished and distressed, according to The Times of Israel.
The following day, Hamas published a video of Evyatar David, who also appeared to be visibly malnourished, the Times of Israel reported. Sa’ar said David could be seen digging his own grave.
“The cruelty of Hamas knows no bounds. While the State of Israel allows the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, Hamas terrorists deliberately starve our hostages, documenting them in a cynical, humiliating, and malicious manner,” Netanyahu said in an Aug. 2 statement on X.
“We see the dire condition of our staff hostages, yet they still have not seen representatives of the Red Cross, despite this being explicitly agreed upon, Hamas have also kidnapped civilians in the past, but it was done on a huge scale on Oct. 7,” he told reporters.
French, British, Canadian, and German leaders have condemned the videos.
