UN Security Council to hold emergency session on hostages held in Gaza
Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, posted the announcement on social media amid anger over videos showing two of the hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas emaciated.
Mr Danon said that the Council "will convene this coming Tuesday for a special emergency session on the dire situation of the hostages in Gaza".
The videos make references to the calamitous humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned a "famine is unfolding."
Israel has heavily restricted the entry of aid into Gaza, while UN agencies, humanitarian groups and analysts say that much of what Israel does allow in is looted or diverted in chaotic circumstances.
Many desperate Palestinians are left to risk their lives seeking what aid is distributed through controlled channels.
Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross to get food to the hostages.
In response, Hamas's armed wing said that it would allow the agency access to the hostages but only if "humanitarian corridors" for food and aid were opened "across all areas of the Gaza Strip".
The Al-Qassam Brigades said it did "not intentionally starve" the hostages, but they would not receive any special food privileges "amid the crime of starvation and siege" in Gaza.
Over recent days, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have released three videos showing two hostages seized during the 7 October, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war.
The images of Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, both of whom appeared weak and malnourished, have fuelled renewed calls in Israel for a truce and hostage release deal.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Netanyahu says he will update Israeli military on Gaza war plans, insiders expect ‘more force' orders
Last Saturday, during a visit to the country, U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff had said he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would effectively end the war in Gaza. But Israeli officials have also floated ideas including expanding the military offensive in Gaza and annexing parts of the shattered enclave. The failed ceasefire talks in Doha had aimed to clinch agreements on a U.S.-backed proposal for a 60-day truce, during which aid would be flown into Gaza and half of the hostages Hamas is holding would be freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel. After Netanyahu met Witkoff last Thursday, a senior Israeli official said that "an understanding was emerging between Washington and Israel," of a need to shift from a truce to a comprehensive deal that would "release all the hostages, disarm Hamas, and demilitarize the Gaza Strip," - Israel's key conditions for ending the war. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday that the envoy's visit was seen in Israel as "very significant." But later on Sunday, the Israeli official signalled that pursuit of a deal would be pointless, threatening more force: "An understanding is emerging that Hamas is not interested in a deal and therefore the prime minister is pushing to release the hostages while pressing for military defeat. Israel's Channel 12 on Monday cited an official from his office as saying that Netanyahu was inclining towards expanding the offensive and seizing the entire Palestinian enclave. 'Strategic clarity' What a "military defeat" might mean, however, is up for debate within the Israeli leadership. Some Israeli officials have suggested that Israel might declare it was annexing parts of Gaza as a means to pressure the militant group. Others, like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir want to see Israel impose military rule in Gaza before annexing it and re-establishing the Jewish settlements Israel evicted 20 years ago. ADVERTISEMENT The Israeli military, which has pushed back at such ideas throughout the war, was expected on Tuesday to present alternatives that include extending into areas of Gaza where it has not yet operated, according to two defence officials. While some in the political leadership are pushing for expanding the offensive, the military is concerned that doing so will endanger the 20 hostages who are still alive, the officials said. Israeli Army Radio reported on Monday that military chief Eyal Zamir has become increasingly frustrated with what he describes as a lack of strategic clarity by the political leadership, concerned about being dragged into a war of attrition with Hamas militants. A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined to comment on the report but said that the military has plans in store. "We have different ways to fight the terror organization, and that's what the army does," Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said. On Tuesday, Qatar and Egypt endorsed a declaration by France and Saudi Arabia outlining steps toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which included a call on Hamas to hand over its arms to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. Hamas has repeatedly said it won't lay down arms. But it has told mediators it was willing to quit governance in Gaza for a non-partisan ruling body, according to three Hamas officials. It insists that the post-war Gaza arrangement must be agreed upon among the Palestinians themselves and not dictated by foreign powers. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar suggested on Monday that the gaps were still too wide to bridge. "We would like to have all our hostages back. We would like to see the end of this war. We always prefer to get there by diplomatic means, if possible. But of course, the big question is, what will be the conditions for the end of the war?" he told journalists in Jerusalem.
Irish Independent
4 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Hamas is no longer a threat to Israel, 500 ex-spies tell Trump
In an open letter to the White House, the retired officials said the campaign, now approaching its 23rd month, has ceased to be a 'just war' and that it was 'leading the state of Israel to lose its security and identity' as a result. The 550 signatories urge Mr Trump to pressure Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to agree to a ceasefire that would return the remaining hostages. They include former heads of Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, the Mossad, its foreign spy agency, three former chiefs of the military, including a former prime minister, Ehud Barak, and two former defence ministers. It comes amid speculation that the government will announce a new direction for the campaign in Gaza in the coming days, in the absence of a hostage-return deal. Operation Gideon's Chariot, a dramatic expansion of the IDF's offensive, which was launched in May, has now effectively concluded. However, it has not succeeded either in defeating Hamas or in pressuring it to release the hostages, aims which were given as justification at the start. At the same time, Israel's international reputation has deteriorated as the humanitarian crisis, including mass displacement and widespread hunger, has worsened. Military analysts generally agree that Israel smashed Hamas's ability to fight as an organised terror army last year. Since then, the group has been operating as small groups of guerrilla fighters, but still inflicting a painful death toll on the IDF. 'It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel,' the letter stated. 'At first this war was a just war, a defensive war, but when we achieved all military objectives, this war ceased to be a just war,' said Ami Aylon, a former Shin Bet director and one of the senior signatories. The letter argued that Israel has 'long accomplished' the objectives that can be achieved by military force, namely dismantling Hamas's military formations and governance. 'The third, and most important, can only be achieved through a deal: bringing the hostages home', it read. On Sunday, Mr Netanyahu said Israel was seeking a 'decisive military victory', in a message that elicited concern from hostage families. Using the momentum from the perceived victory over Iran in June, the White House put both Israel and Hamas under huge pressure to restart talks. The negotiations lasted for weeks but fell apart without a deal, with both sides accusing the other of making unrealistic demands. Although staunch in his support for Israel and Mr Netanyahu personally, Mr Trump criticised the plight of ordinary Gazans in recent weeks and made it clear he wants the conflict to end. But it is not known if he would go so far as effectively ordering Mr Netanyahu to stop fighting, or, if he did, whether the Israeli prime minister would comply. Yesterday, the Israeli press reported the future of the campaign could be decided at a security cabinet later this week. Options said to be on the table are a reduced offensive that allows in more military aid, total military occupation of the strip, or an 'encirclement' strategy, whereby the IDF withdraws to a number of zones around key Hamas areas and launches raids from those. (© Telegraph Media Group Holdings Ltd)
RTÉ News
5 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Netanyahu says he will update military on Gaza war plans
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will update Israel's Gaza war plan, ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on the fate of hostages still held in the Palestinian territory. Addressing a cabinet meeting with the war into its 22nd month, the Israeli leader told ministers that later in the week he would instruct the military on how "to achieve the three war objectives we have set". Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 and the Jerusalem Post newspaper quoted officials in Mr Netanyahu's office saying that the "updated strategy" would be to re-occupy all of Gaza, including areas in Gaza City where the military believes hostages are being held. The cabinet would meet on Tuesday to endorse the plan, the reports said. There was no immediate official confirmation. However, the Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry denounced what it called a "leaked" plan and urged the international community to intervene to quash any new military occupation. Mr Netanyahu is facing mounting domestic and international pressure to bring the remaining hostages in Gaza home and allow much more aid into the starving territory. Israel - backed by the United States and Panama - is preparing to convene a UN Security Council meeting to highlight the fate of the hostages. Mr Netanyahu reiterated yesterday that Israel's three war goals remained "the defeat of the enemy, the release of our hostages and the promise that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel". His statement came after hundreds of retired Israeli security chiefs wrote to US President Donald Trump to urge him to convince the Israeli prime minister to end the war. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said ahead of the UN meeting that "the world must put an end to the phenomenon of kidnapping civilians". "It must be front and centre on the world stage," he added/ Of the 251 hostages abducted during Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. The UN session was called after Palestinian militant groups last week published three videos showing hostages Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David appearing weak and emaciated, causing shock in Israel. Mr Netanyahu said he had asked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to provide food and medical treatment to the Israeli captives. Hamas's armed wing said it was willing to allow access to the hostages in exchange for opening aid corridors into all of Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned famine is unfolding. Mr Netanyahu's government has faced repeated accusations by relatives of hostages and other critics that it has not done enough to rescue the captives. "Netanyahu is leading Israel and the hostages to ruin," said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group. It said: "For 22 months, the public has been sold the illusion that military pressure and intense fighting will bring the hostages back. "The truth must be said: expanding the war endangers the lives of the hostages, who are already in immediate mortal danger." Mediation efforts led by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have failed to secure a truce. Hundreds of retired Israeli security officials including former heads of intelligence agencies have urged Mr Trump to pressure their own government to end the war. "It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel," the former officials wrote in an open letter shared with the media yesterday. The war "is leading the state of Israel to lose its security and identity", said Ami Ayalon, former director of the Shin Bet security service, in a video released to accompany the letter. The letter argued the Israeli military "has long accomplished the two objectives that could be achieved by force: dismantling Hamas's military formations and governance". "The third, and most important, can only be achieved through a deal: bringing all the hostages home," it added. The October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally of official figures. Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed at least 60,933 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which are deemed reliable by the UN. Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli fire yesterday killed at least 19 Palestinians, including nine who were waiting to collect food aid from a site in central Gaza. 'Heart-rending and intolerable' In Gaza City, Umm Osama Imad was mourning a relative she said was killed while trying to reach an aid distribution point. "We are starving ... He went to bring flour for his family," she said, adding "the flour is stained with blood. We don't want the flour anymore. Enough." UN rights chief Volker Turk said "the images of people starving in Gaza are heart-rending and intolerable". "That we have reached this stage is an affront to our collective humanity," he added. He called on Israel to urgently allow aid into the territory, adding that denying it "may amount to a war crime". On Sunday, President Michael D Higgins called on the United Nations Security Council to do more for the people of Gaza. "I cannot really stand in a public venue and give a public speech and speak about our language when I see such incredible, incredible destruction of an entire people taking place on our television screens every evening," he said at the opening of an event at the weekend. He said it was "outrageous" that there were 6,000 trucks with enough food for three months waiting to get in to Gaza and that they are being blocked. President Higgins also condemned footage released by Hamas of two emaciated Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian militant group in Gaza.
