Hostage video outrage grows, retired Israeli security chiefs demand end to Gaza war

TOP HEADLINES

• Outrage, led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is growing at videos released by Hamas showing two Israeli hostages held in Gaza in an emaciated condition. READ MORE BELOW

• At least 34 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Monday morning, including 17 aid seekers, with a further six new deaths recorded from famine and malnutrition. READ MORE BELOW

• Israel's security cabinet will decide this week whether to expand the nearly 22-month war in the Gaza Strip, according to Channel 12 television. READ MORE BELOW

• In an open letter, hundreds of retired Israeli security officials including former heads of intelligence agencies have called for an end to the war in Gaza, saying "Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel." READ MORE BELOW

• Germany's interior ministry is reviewing the feasibility of projects that would involving bringing children from Gaza to Germany for treatment. "The feasibility of such initiatives depends crucially on the security situation, the possibility of leaving the country, and other factors," a ministry spokesperson said on Monday.  

• More than a dozen House Democrats have signed a letter pressing the Trump administration to recognize a Palestinian state, with at least one lawmaker planning to introduce a pro-statehood resolution, Axios reported on Monday.

IN DETAIL

Netanyahu asks Red Cross for help

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross on Sunday for help aiding hostages in Gaza, as outrage built at videos showing two of them emaciated.

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".

In response, Hamas's armed wing said 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 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 organizations."

There was particular outrage in Israel over images of David, who appeared to be digging what he said in the staged video was his own grave.

40 more deaths from Gazan strikes and famine

Sources at Gaza hospitals have told Al Jazeera that at least 34 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn on Monday, including 17 aid seekers. 

In addition, hospitals in Gaza have recorded six new deaths from famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, including one child, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

This brings the total number of people who have died from hunger-related causes since the start of the war to 181, including 94 children.

Will Israel expand Gaza war?

Israel's Channel 12 television has reported that the country's security cabinet will decide this week whether to expand the nearly 22-month war in the Gaza Strip.

According to Turkish news website Anadolu Ajansı, the Channel 12 bulletin said the option of intensifying attacks on Gaza, even at the risk of endangering the lives of Israeli hostages in the enclave, is on the table.

Israeli premier Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz are reportedly undecided on whether to intensify attacks or continue negotiations.

Haaretz – Israeli's longest-running daily newspaper – says preparations are underway for expanding Israeli military operations in Gaza. The newspaper quoted a senior Israeli official as saying: "There is a growing understanding that Hamas is not interested in a deal.

"Therefore, the prime minister is pushing for the release of hostages as part of a military resolution, combined with the delivery of humanitarian aid to areas outside combat zones and, as much as possible, to regions not under Hamas control."

Retired Israeli security chiefs demand end to war

Hundreds of retired Israeli security officials including former heads of intelligence agencies have urged U.S. President Donald Trump to pressure their own government to end the war in Gaza.

"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 on Monday.

"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 Ayalon, former director of the Shin Bet security service.

The war, nearing its 23rd month, "is leading the State of Israel to lose its security and identity," Ayalon warned in a video released to accompany the letter.

Signed by 550 people, including former chiefs of Shin Bet and the Mossad spy agency, the letter called on Trump to "steer" Netanyahu towards a ceasefire.

The letter was signed by three former Mossad heads: Tamir Pardo, Efraim Halevy and Danny Yatom.

Others signatories include five former heads of Shin Bet – Αyalon as well as Nadav Argaman, Yoram Cohen, Yaakov Peri and Carmi Gilon – and three former military chiefs of staff, including former prime minister Ehud Barak, former defense minister Moshe Yaalon and Dan Halutz.

The letter argued that the Israeli military "has long accomplished the two objectives that could be achieved by force: dismantling Hamas's military formations and governance."