UN Security Council meets to discuss Israel-Hamas war and Gaza hostage situation

Israel called for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to demand the release of its hostages held under Hamas captivity in Gaza. It comes after the Gaza-based group released a video showing a 24-year-old man appearing emaciated.

The Israeli hostages garnered widespread sympathy, but the plight of the more than two million Palestinians starving in the enclave drew even more support.

Most of the Security Council members blamed Israel for manufacturing a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as they pointed to the government and the military’s two-month blockade of the Strip and failure to allow enough food and medicine to enter the war-wracked territory.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says at least 188 Palestinians, including 94 children, have died from malnutrition-related causes so far.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who flew to New York to attend the session, accused Russia, other members of the council and the international media of perpetuating “so many lies” and spreading anti-Israel disinformation.

He said members of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad are not feeding the hostages while they “enjoy meat, fish and vegetables”. Sa'ar asserted that his country is allowing “huge amounts of aid” to enter the besieged territory, and accused Hamas of looting.

The top Israeli diplomat said the group is stealing food, medical supplies and other basic needs and using it as a “financial tool” to sell and make money. UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric has previously rejected those claims as lacking evidence.

Sa'ar also accused the Palestinians of “inventing terrorism” and Hamas of wanting to continue this war instead of reaching a ceasefire deal with Israel.

“The world has been turned upside down while Hamas runs its propaganda machine,” he said. “A world in which Israel is put on a bench of the accused while it fights for its survival. There is a name for it. It’s called antisemitism.”

Testimony from the hostages’ relatives

Itay David, brother of 24-year-old Evyatar David who was captured in Hamas’ released video looking thin and weak in a Gaza tunnel saying he was “digging his own grave”, urged the Security Council to take action and protect the hostages' lives.

“Do not let them die. We don’t have time. Do not let them spend another minute in darkness.”

Calling his brother “a living skeleton”, Itay urged the 15 council members in a video briefing to get humanitarian aid to the hostages, saying they are being broken psychologically and physically by Hamas and denied “the most basic necessities of life.”

Israel criticised for human suffering in Gaza

Many members, including the United Kingdom and Sierra Leone, praised Itay for advocating for his brother and condemned Hamas taking hostages as a war crime, but also accused Israel of committing its own.

Sierra Leone’s UN Ambassador Michael Imran Kanu said that while hostage taken is an international crime that needs to be prosecuted, “one atrocity cannot justify another”.

“While we express deep concern for the hostages, we cannot ignore the wider humanitarian catastrophe that has engulfed Gaza,” he said. “The people of Gaza have been subjected to a blockade and siege that deprived them of food, water, fuel and medical supplies,” which could also constitute a war crime.

The UK’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward reiterated London’s support for the immediate release of hostages, but also slammed Israel for restricting aid and forcing the densely populated enclave to like under famine-like conditions.

“Since the ceasefire ended, the suffering of the hostages and Palestinian civilians has plumbed to new and shocking depths,” she said. “Israel’s aid restrictions have led to famine now unfolding in Gaza, as reported by international experts who monitor famine globally.”

Woodward said she spoke to doctors last week who had served in Gaza. “They had seen children so malnourished that their wounds festered for months without healing,” she said, and saw baby formula confiscated by the Israeli military.

“I call on Israel now to act to alleviate the horrendous suffering,” she said.

Approximately 250 hostages were taken after Hamas staged an attack on southern Israel on 7 October, 2023, killing 1,200 people. Most have been released in various hostage exchange deals, but 50 of them remain in Gaza with around 20 believed to still be alive.

Hamas’ attack was followed by an all-out Israeli military offensive on the Strip, now in its 22nd month. Israeli attacks have killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

The UN says more than two-thirds of deaths it has been able to independently verify were women and children.