Following widespread outrage of a video showing an emaciated captive, the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas said Sunday that it was willing to permit the Red Cross to provide food and medicine to the Israeli captives it is holding, subject to certain restrictions.
Hamas would accept a request from the International Committee of the Red Cross, a spokesperson for the group’s military arm, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said on Telegram. He did, however, emphasize that Israel must allow the full and ongoing flow of aid to the civilian Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip in exchange.
Furthermore, Hamas insisted that Israel stop conducting aircraft reconnaissance while aid is being delivered to the captives.
According to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he had a conversation with Julien Lerisson, the regional head of mission for the ICRC, and requested that he make sure the Red Cross provides food and medicine to the Israeli captives very once.
The 20 surviving captives that were taken during the October 7, 2023, strikes on Israel are being held inhumanely by Hamas in tunnels in Gaza. Videos depicting two of the captives in severe malnourishment, declining physical strength, and emotional distress were made public by the organization in recent days.
Over the weekend, the photographs stunned the Israeli public and many others worldwide, causing dismay among leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Hamas is accused of purposefully starving the hostages in Israel in order to put pressure on the Netanyahu administration.
