Hamas caves to pressure

ISRAEL – Hamas has caved and said it is conditionally ready to deliver Red Cross aid to the hostages it is holding in Gaza. 

The terror group, which has held hostages from Israel following its attack in October 2023, said that if Israel opens humanitarian corridors permanently and halts ‘all forms of air traffic’ during the delivery of packages to the hostages, it would allow aid to reach them. 

It comes after harrowing video of hostage Evyatar David, held in Gaza for nearly 700 days, were shared with the world, showing him bare-chested on a dirty mattress inside a tunnel in Gaza. 

He can be seen writing on a piece of paper on the wall and walking around in the tunnel, which is just tall enough for him to stand up. 

The video goes on to accuse Israel of starving not only Palestinians, but Israeli hostages as well. 

The last proof of life from Evyatar, who was taken hostage from the Nova music festival during the October 7 attacks, was back in February. 

Then Hamas published a video of him and fellow hostage Guy Gilboa Dalal sitting inside a car as they watched other captives being released from Gaza. 

Following the release of this footage, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday to help hostages in Gaza, as outrage built over the treatment of the two emaciated hostages. 

The premier’s office said he spoke to the ICRC coordinator for the region, Julien Lerisson and ‘requested his involvement in providing food to our hostages and… immediate medical treatment’.

The ICRC said in a statement it was ‘appalled by the harrowing videos’ and reiterated its ‘call to be granted access to the hostages’.

Over recent days, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have released three videos showing two hostages seized during the October 7, 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.

A statement from Netanyahu’s office on Saturday said he had spoken with the families of the two hostages and ‘expressed profound shock over the materials distributed by the terror organisations’.

Netanyahu ‘‘told the families that the efforts to return all our hostages are ongoing,’’ the statement added.