Israel convened an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to call for the release of its frail hostages, including one observed digging his own grave. While their situation garnered significant sympathy, the plight of the 2 million Palestinians facing starvation in Gaza attracted even more attention.

Many council members, alongside Palestinians, attributed the dire situation to the Israeli government and military due to the two-month blockade of Gaza and the insufficient food supply into the besieged area, where over 100 deaths from starvation, mostly children, have been reported by the health ministry.

Gideon Saar, Israel’s Foreign Minister who traveled to New York for the meeting, accused Russia and unnamed council members, as well as the global media, of spreading “so many lies.” He criticized Hamas and Islamic Jihad for starving hostages taken during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks in southern Israel, while “the terrorists enjoy meat, fish and vegetables.”

Saar claimed that Israel is channeling “huge amounts of aid into Gaza,” accusing Hamas of seizing food and resources to use as “a financial tool” for profit. However, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric has stated there is no supporting evidence for this claim.

The Israeli diplomat also accused the Palestinians of inventing terrorism, and claimed that Hamas prefers to continue its warfare against Israel over establishing a ceasefire.

“The world has been turned upside down while Hamas operates its propaganda machinery,” Saar stated, arguing that Israel is unfairly judged while it fights for survival. He referred to this situation as antisemitism.

Testimony came from Israeli hostages’ relatives

Itay David, the older brother of emaciated hostage Evyatar David, who was pictured over the weekend in a Gaza tunnel saying he was digging his own grave, urged the Security Council: “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.”

British U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward reiterated the country’s support for the immediate release of all hostages and condemned parading them for propaganda purposes as a “depraved” act. “Hamas and its terrorist ideologies can have no place in the future governance of Gaza and should never again threaten Israel’s security,” she said.

Woodward recalled the hopeful ceasefire earlier this year when hostages were released and the U.N. was able to send large amounts of aid into Gaza. “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.

Discussion focused on both sides

Sierra Leone’s U.N. ambassador, Michael Imran Kanu, commended Itay David’s advocacy for his brother and the hostages, condemned their “inhumane treatment,” and said Hamas’ hostage-taking is a war crime that must be prosecuted. But, said Kanu, “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.

Acting U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea said President Donald Trump has recognized “real starvation” in Gaza and the United States is working to get assistance to civilians. She urged “those who have professed concern about the reported risk of famine” to support the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed American contractor, which she said reported delivering more than 1.5 million meals on Sunday. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to get to its four food distribution sites.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador, acknowledged “the distressing, unacceptable video” of 24-year-old Evyatar David, saying “We reject all inhumane and degrading treatment against anyone, especially persons held in captivity.”

But in a strong rebuke, he said, “Israel is demanding the world to take a stance against starvation when it is actually starving an entire civilian population, when it is shooting at them while they seek water and food.”