Israeli Prime Minister asks the Red Cross to assist Gaza hostages who were shown in videos malnourished and digging their own graves.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called on the International Committee of the Red Cross to provide "immediate" food and medical care to the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza following the release of a series of videos showing them severely understaffed and digging their own graves.
Portraits of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the attacks of October 7, 2023. Photo: AFP
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with the head of the Red Cross delegation in our region, Julian Larison, and requested his participation in providing food to our hostages and providing them with immediate medical care ," reads a statement released by Netanyahu's office.
The Israeli president's request comes after Hamas and Islamic Jihad released images in recent days of two starving and very poor-healthy captives, which have shocked their families after more than a year and a half of being held captive.
"(...) Hamas's lie about famine resonates around the world, as systematic starvation is directed against our hostages, who suffer brutal physical and mental abuse. The world cannot remain impassive in the face of shocking images reminiscent of Nazi crimes," Netanyahu told Larison during the phone call.
"Hamas's cruelty knows no bounds," the president said in a separate statement Saturday night. "Hamas terrorists are deliberately starving our people and documenting it in the most cynical and vicious way," he added, referring to the videos.
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad released three videos over three consecutive days of hostages Evyatar David (24 years old) and Rom Braslavski (21), in which both appear visibly malnourished.
Hostage Evyatar David forced to dig his own grave. Photo: Screenshot taken from video.
On Saturday, they shared a new video of 24-year-old hostage Evyatar David, in which he appears extremely thin and demands a deal that would allow him to return home and that Israel allow food into Gaza.
In the video, Evyatar also appears digging his own grave in a narrow tunnel.
"What I'm digging is my own grave," says David, 24, as he uses a shovel to dig through the earth inside a tunnel in the Strip, barely a meter wide. "Time is running out," he adds.
These hostages are among the 20 hostages, presumed to be alive, who remain in Gaza, along with another 30 who have died.
Hamas routinely releases videos of hostages, a tool of psychological pressure on Israel, at critical moments in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations. They are currently at a standstill, and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is in the country to address the situation.
The images were also released at a time when Gaza is suffering a severe famine crisis caused by Israel, which has blocked the entry of food into Gaza for months. Between March 2 and May 19, the closure was complete, while the flow of aid is now very limited.
Demonstration in Tel Aviv calling for the release of the Israeli hostages. Photo: EFE
Since the Israeli offensive against Gaza began following the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, at least 175 people have died from hunger or malnutrition, including 93 children, according to records kept by local health authorities.
Most of the deaths have occurred in recent weeks, following months of blockade of humanitarian aid by Israel, which controls all access to the besieged territory. Between March 2 and May 19, the blockade was complete, while the flow of aid is now very limited.
Deployment of humanitarian aid by air to the Gaza Strip. Photo: AFP
This Sunday, the Gaza government accused Israel of blocking 22,000 trucks of humanitarian aid at border crossings.
eltiempo
