The United Nations Security Council will convene an emergency session on Tuesday to discuss the situation of Israeli captives in Gaza, amid growing concerns over their fate and warnings from experts that the territory’s population is at risk of famine.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon announced the meeting on Sunday in a social media post, following the release of video footage from Gaza showing two Israeli captives appearing visibly weak, sparking shock in Israel.
Danon said the session will address the “deteriorating humanitarian situation” of the captives.
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad said the purpose of publishing the videos was to draw attention to Gaza’s worsening humanitarian crisis, which the UN has warned could soon reach famine levels.
Israel has imposed strict limits on aid entry into Gaza. According to UN agencies, aid groups, and analysts, most relief supplies that do enter are either looted by criminal gangs or seized amid the chaos, preventing them from reaching those most in need.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help provide “food” and “medical treatment” to Israeli captives in Gaza.
In response, Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said it was willing to cooperate with any ICRC request to deliver food and medicine to Israeli captives—on the condition that humanitarian corridors are opened to supply the rest of the Gaza Strip with food and medicine.
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