Live: Israel announces UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday to discuss Gaza hostages

The UN Security Council will "meet this Tuesday for an emergency meeting on the dire situation of the hostages in Gaza," Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, announced on social media on Sunday.

The publication since Thursday by Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad of several videos showing two very weakened Israeli hostages has caused a stir and rekindled the debate in Israel on the need to reach an agreement as quickly as possible to release these captives, kidnapped during the unprecedented attack by Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "spoke with the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in our region" and "requested his involvement in providing food and immediate medical treatment to our hostages," his office said. Shortly after, Hamas's armed wing said it was ready to respond "positively" to any request from the ICRC, but first demanded "the opening of humanitarian corridors (...) for the passage of food and medicine" into the Gaza Strip.

"The Al-Qassam Brigades are ready to respond positively and accept any request from the Red Cross to deliver food and medicine to enemy prisoners," write the Ezzedine Brigades. Al-Qassam, the armed wing of Hamas, said in a statement. "To accept this, we stipulate that humanitarian corridors must be opened normally and permanently for the passage of food and medicine to all our people in all areas of the Gaza Strip," the Islamist group set as a condition.

Earlier Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross "to provide food" and "medical treatment" to Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from his office released Sunday.

Mr. Netanyahu "spoke with the head of the ICRC delegation in our region, Julian Larison (…) Hamas's lie about famine is spreading around the world, but the reality is that our hostages are being systematically starved (…) . The world cannot remain indifferent to the shocking images that recall Nazi crimes," the Prime Minister continued.

The Palestinian Red Crescent "strongly condemns the deliberate targeting of [its] headquarters in Khan Younis, Gaza, by the Israeli army on the night [of Saturday to Sunday]. The attack took the life of one staff member, injured two others and a civilian," the humanitarian organization wrote in a statement published on X.

"Shortly after midnight, Israeli artillery directly struck the upper floors of the Palestinian Red Crescent building (...) The repeated strikes during the evacuation and rescue operations clearly demonstrate that the bombardment was deliberate and systematic," the organization said before denouncing a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law" due to the "clear marking with the internationally recognized Red Crescent emblem" on the building.

According to the organization, 51 members and volunteers of the Palestinian Red Crescent were killed by the Israeli army, including 29 during their humanitarian mission.

US diplomacy confirmed on Sunday the death in the West Bank of an American-Palestinian, who was asphyxiated, according to the Palestinian Authority, in fires started Thursday during an attack by Israeli settlers . "We can confirm the death of a US citizen in the West Bank town of Silwad (...). We condemn any criminal violence perpetrated by anyone" in the occupied Palestinian territory, a State Department spokesperson told Agence France-Presse in an email.

"Khamis Abdel-Latif Ayad, a 40-year-old Palestinian, died from smoke inhalation from fires started by settlers in homes and vehicles in the village of Silwad at dawn" on Thursday, the Palestinian Authority's health ministry said at the time. The Israeli army announced the opening of an investigation after confirming that fires had been reported in this village in the central West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967. In Silwad, witnesses confirmed a settler attack.

This village is located near Israeli settlements, all of which are deemed illegal under international law. Some of these settlements, called outposts, are also illegal under Israeli law. Some 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, alongside approximately 500,000 Israelis living in settlements. Some of the Palestinians also hold American citizenship.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has requested assistance from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) "to provide food" and "medical treatment" to Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from his office published Sunday.

Mr. Netanyahu "spoke with the head of the ICRC delegation in our region, Julian Larison ." He "requested his involvement in providing food and immediate medical treatment to our hostages," the text emphasizes. "Hamas's lie about famine is spreading around the world, but the reality is that our hostages are being systematically starved (...) . The world cannot remain indifferent to the shocking images that recall Nazi crimes," the Prime Minister continued.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on Israel on Sunday to continue delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza and not "respond to Hamas's cynicism," despite the release of videos of Israeli hostages. In an interview with the daily Bild , the conservative leader said he was "horrified" by the images, which "show that Hamas must no longer play any role in the future of Gaza."

"I am horrified by the images of Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski. Hamas tortures hostages, terrorizes Israel and uses its own population in the Gaza Strip as a human shield. (…) The release of all hostages is an imperative precondition [for a ceasefire] . Israel will not respond to Hamas' cynicism and must continue to provide humanitarian aid," the German Chancellor declared.

Also quoted by Bild , Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that the images published by Hamas of Israeli hostages showed "the full perversity of their torturers." Saying he stood by the hostages and their loved ones, Wadephul assured that Berlin "continues to do everything in its power to secure the hostages' release." He also demanded, to the German daily, that Hamas "never again have political influence."

Far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited the highly sensitive site of the Esplanade of the Mosques in East Jerusalem, an area occupied and annexed by Israel, early Sunday morning to pray, Israeli media reported. The esplanade, Islam's third holiest site, built on the ruins of the second Jewish temple destroyed in 70 AD by the Romans, is a powder keg where the slightest incident can escalate to the point of setting the region ablaze. For Jews, it is the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.

Mr. Ben Gvir, Minister of National Security, one of the most radical members of the governing coalition and accustomed to provocations, published a video on social media this morning showing him earlier on the Esplanade of the Mosques, a visit seen as a provocation by the Muslim world and in clear violation of the status quo at the Holy Places. Under this status quo decreed after Israel's conquest of East Jerusalem in 1967, non-Muslims can go to the esplanade at specific times, without praying there, but this rule is increasingly flouted by a growing number of nationalist Jews.

During the day, other images were relayed on social networks, showing Mr. Ben Gvir saying a traditional Jewish prayer, accompanied by some of his supporters and under the eyes of the Israeli police. According to the Times of Israel , the minister "led a group of Jewish worshippers in prayer atop the Temple Mount this Sunday, as he marked the fast day of Tisha B'Av." This day of fasting and mourning in the Hebrew calendar commemorates the destruction of the two temples of Jerusalem.

The left-wing daily Haaretz called the visit a "provocation," saying the far-right minister was "adding fuel to the fire." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office responded immediately, saying that "Israel's policy of maintaining the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed and will remain unchanged."

At least 70 residents of the Gaza Strip, including 37 who were seeking humanitarian aid, were killed since dawn on Sunday, health officials in the Palestinian enclave said.

Reported by the Palestinian news agency WAFa , medical sources accused the Israeli army of targeting groups of Palestinians queuing to receive food. At least 37 people were reportedly killed by Israeli gunfire in several locations in the Gaza Strip, including seven south of Khan Younis.

Emmanuel Macron denounced on Sunday, on the social network X, the "abject cruelty" and "limitless inhumanity" of Hamas after the broadcast of videos of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip, showing emaciated and weakened men.

"Abject cruelty, limitless inhumanity: this is what Hamas embodies. The unbearable images (...) showing Israeli hostages held in Gaza are a horrific reminder of this," wrote the French president, who stressed that "the absolute priority and imperative for France is the immediate release of all hostages." Mr. Macron also reiterated France's desire to implement, after the release of the hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza, a "political solution (...) , that of the two States, Israel and Palestine."

"This is the only possible path to a future where justice, security and dignity are guaranteed for all the peoples of the region ," said the French head of state. "Let there be no ambiguity: in this political perspective that we are promoting, we demand the total demilitarization of Hamas, its complete exclusion from any form of governance, and the recognition of Israel by the State of Palestine."

The Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip reported on Sunday that 119 more people had died in the past 24 hours as a result of Israeli fire. A further 866 people were injured in the same period, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA .

Among the victims, 65 people were killed while seeking humanitarian aid, the Health Ministry added. Since October 7, more than 60,800 Palestinians have been killed, according to the same source.

On Sunday, residents in several cities in the Palestinian territories gathered for a "National and International Day of Support for Gaza and Prisoners," the Palestinian news agency WAFa reported.

In Tubas, in the West Bank, for example, where a correspondent of the agency was located, activists, residents and former prisoners participated in a rally in support of Gaza, besieged and destroyed by the Israeli army. The participants held placards condemning, among other things, "the genocide" and "the famine" underway in the Palestinian enclave, as well as "the war of the Israeli prison service against Palestinian prisoners."

Tubas and Jordan Valley Governor Ahmad Al-Asaad said, according to WAFa: "We stand here today to send a message to the world, so that everyone knows that what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank [is] war crimes against our Palestinian people, and it is time for these massacres to stop."

Medical sources in Gaza reported on Sunday that six more people had died in the past 24 hours from famine and malnutrition. The Palestinian news agency WAFA , citing doctors, said the deaths were six adults.

This brings to 175 the number of people who have died of hunger or malnutrition in the Gaza Strip, including 93 children.

The brother of Israeli hostage Evyatar David, whose videos were released by Hamas's Eli David, was present at a rally near Tel Aviv on Sunday morning, Israeli media outlet Haaretz reported. He warned of "immediate danger" to his captive brother's life if he does not receive food and medicine soon.

In an interview with Kan public radio, relayed by Haaretz , Eli David said that his mother had not watched the videos of her son, in which he appeared very weak and emaciated. Speaking to Army Radio, he also said he was certain that, beyond his brother, all the remaining Hamas hostages were in mortal danger.

"We must put an end to this madness," he added, adding that his brother's release represented "a war that is necessary." "I would give my life a million times over to save my brother," he added.

Israel's far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, visited the Mosque complex in East Jerusalem early Sunday morning, according to footage posted on his Telegram account , a visit usually seen as a provocation by Muslims.

"Just as we have proven that it is possible to exercise sovereignty over the Temple Mount, it is also possible to conquer the entire Gaza Strip and encourage voluntary emigration. This is the response we must give to the atrocious videos published by Hamas," the minister said.

Tens of thousands of people marched in Sydney on Sunday in support of the Palestinian people, crossing the city's iconic Harbour Bridge. Protesters marched in the pouring rain, chanting "ceasefire now" and "free Palestine," while banners bore the names of thousands of children killed in Israel's nearly 22-month-old war in the Gaza Strip.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who returned to Australia in June 2024 after seven years in seclusion in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, joined the protesters and marched near the front of the procession with his family.

Australia was one of fifteen countries that launched a collective appeal on Wednesday, at the end of a ministerial conference in New York, to express their willingness to recognize a Palestinian state, without, however, announcing any concrete plans for recognition.

At least 18 people were killed Sunday morning by Israeli army gunfire and shelling across the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency WAFa reported. At least 13 of these victims were killed while trying to collect humanitarian aid, it said.

The agency's correspondents, citing medical sources, reported at least nine deaths in Israeli gunfire near aid distribution centers north of Rafah. Two people were also killed in an Israeli airstrike on a school housing refugees in the Al-Amal neighborhood, west of Khan Younis, and three in an attack targeting a gathering of civilians east of Gaza City.

Meanwhile, at least four people were killed and others injured in an attack on people waiting for humanitarian aid near the Netzarim corridor in the central Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency reported.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, on Sunday condemned "appalling images of Israeli hostages" and demanded their "immediate" release, following the publication of videos by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. "The images of the Israeli hostages are appalling and demonstrate the barbarity of Hamas. All hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally," she wrote on the social network X.

"Hamas must lay down its arms and end its rule over Gaza," said Kaja Kallas. "At the same time, large-scale humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach people in need," she said.