Hamas calls for binding UNSC action on Gaza
On Monday, Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan called on members of the UN Security Council to pressure Israel to end what he described as a 'humanitarian catastrophe' in the Gaza Strip.
In a press statement, he urged adherence to international humanitarian law and an immediate halt to what he called ' collective starvation,' which he said amounts to a war crime.
Hamdan held the Israeli government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, 'fully responsible' for the lives of all Israeli captives held by Hamas. He accused Israel of 'arrogance and obstinacy' in refusing to reach a ceasefire agreement, and of escalating what he termed 'a war of extermination and starvation' against the Palestinian population.
The official also blamed Netanyahu—whom he referred to as 'wanted by international justice'—for the condition of Israeli soldier Evyatar David, citing the worsening blockade, starvation, and denial of food, water, and medicine in Gaza.
He added that the treatment of Israeli prisoners in Gaza is tied to the humanitarian conditions faced by the local population, stating, 'they live as the people of Gaza live.'
Reaffirming Hamas's willingness to "positively respond to any request by the Red Cross to deliver food and medicine to enemy prisoners held in the Gaza Strip," Hamdan called for a sustained international pressure on Israel to open humanitarian corridors for the civilian population.
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