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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for immediate intervention following the release of distressing videos showing two Israeli hostages appearing gaunt and malnourished in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed on Sunday that he had spoken to the ICRC’s regional coordinator, Julien Lerisson, urging him to ensure food and medical care reach the hostages still held by Hamas.
The ICRC issued a statement expressing deep concern over the disturbing footage and renewed its demand for access to the hostages.
In response, Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said it would permit Red Cross visits only if humanitarian corridors were opened across Gaza to allow food and aid deliveries to civilians. The group insisted it was not deliberately starving the hostages but said they could not be given preferential treatment while the population at large suffers under siege.
Three separate hostage videos have been released recently by Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad, sparking outrage in Israel. In the videos, Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David — both abducted during the October 7 attack—appear frail and visibly underfed, like many Gazans.
In one clip, David is seen digging a hole he describes as his grave, a scene that provoked widespread fury and renewed demands for a ceasefire and a hostage release agreement. Netanyahu, after meeting with the families of the two men, described the videos as profoundly shocking and reiterated that efforts to free all hostages are ongoing.
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv over the weekend to pressure the Israeli government into securing the return of the remaining hostages.
Meanwhile, calls for a humanitarian resolution continue to grow. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas denounced the hostage footage, labelling it evidence of “Hamas’s barbarity,” and repeated calls for the group’s disarmament and unconditional release of all hostages. She also stressed the urgent need for increased aid access to Gaza.
Israel has imposed tight restrictions on humanitarian aid entering the enclave, and agencies have warned of widespread looting and chaos hampering distribution efforts. The result is growing desperation among Palestinians, many of whom risk their lives to access the little aid that gets through.
On Sunday, Gaza’s civil defence authority reported that nine civilians were killed near Rafah after Israeli forces opened fire as they waited at a food distribution site operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. A separate incident in central Gaza left five more dead. An additional five were reportedly killed in other Israeli airstrikes across the territory.
Among the 49 hostages still believed to be alive in Gaza, the Israeli military says 27 are already presumed dead. Most of the 251 people abducted in the October 7 attacks were freed during two temporary ceasefires, often in exchange for Palestinian detainees held by Israel.
The initial Hamas assault killed 1,219 people, according to official Israeli figures. Israel’s military bombardment in Gaza has since led to at least 60,430 deaths, predominantly women and children, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry—data that the UN, and many international organisations consider credible.
The Israeli bombardment has also affected relief workers. The Palestine Red Crescent Society confirmed that one of its staff members was killed during an Israeli strike on its Khan Yunis base. The Israeli military claimed it had no knowledge of an attack in that location.
Elsewhere, tensions escalated in Jerusalem after Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir conducted a Jewish prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound—the first time a serving minister has done so publicly. The site, sacred to both Muslims and Jews, has long been governed by a fragile status quo that restricts non-Muslim prayer.
Ben Gvir used the moment to advocate for the annexation of Gaza and the “voluntary emigration” of its population—a move widely viewed as provocative and incendiary.
