Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča briefed the Security Council meeting, called by Israel, to demand the release of hostages held in Gaza. The meeting comes a week after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad published footage of two emaciated hostages, Evaytar David and Rom Braslavsky.
Earlier, Hamas's military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said the captives were not being deliberately starved, but were receiving the same limited rations as Palestinians in the strip. “They won’t be offered special privileges while our people suffer starvation and siege,” the group said.
While Israel tried to elicit sympathy for its captives in Gaza, its deliberate starvation of two million Palestinians in the strip drew far greater attention.
UK and France demand an end to suffering
Britain's UN Ambassador, Barbara Woodward, reiterated her country's support for the immediate release of all Israeli captives and condemned their use for propaganda as a "depraved" act. Woodward, however, recalled the hopeful ceasefire earlier this year, when captives were released and the UN 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 had seen baby formula confiscated by the Israeli military.
"I call on Israel now to act to alleviate the horrendous suffering," she said, according to the Associated Press.
The UK Ambassador also stated that her country is ready to play its part in achieving a plan that ends the bloodshed, brings the captives home, and lays the foundations for a Palestinian state. "Statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and is essential to the long-term security of Israel," she stressed.
France's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Jay Dharmadhikari, reiterated France's demand for Israel to open all crossing points to allow immediate, large-scale, and unimpeded access for life-saving humanitarian aid into Gaza.
He emphasized that efforts to tackle the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza must be accompanied by a political resolution based on the two-state solution—"the only realistic path to lasting peace."
France also called for the immediate release of all Israeli captives, the restoration of a ceasefire, and the large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid, which remains blocked at Gaza’s gates.
In July, France announced its intention to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly meeting in September, a move the UK intends to replicate if Israel continues its war on Gaza.
US and Russia at odds
Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea said that President Donald Trump has recognized "real starvation" in Gaza and that the US 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 (GHF), an Israeli-backed American contractor.
Shea claimed the GHF delivered more than 1.5 million meals on Sunday. However, Israeli soldiers have killed nearly 1,500 starving Palestinians seeking aid at GHF food distribution sites.
On Tuesday, UN Special Rapporteurs called for the immediate dismantling of the GHF, which they said was being "exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law."
Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, described the situation as a "humanitarian catastrophe in every sense of the word," warning that the crisis impacts both the besieged population and the fate of Israeli captives.
Polyanskiy said the blockade imposed on Gaza since 2 March remains in place, despite Israeli denials.
He warned that Israel's ongoing efforts to forcibly displace Palestinians—whether in Gaza or the occupied West Bank—pose grave risks to regional stability and could push the Middle East to the brink of another full-scale war.
"None of this would be possible without the direct military support and political cover provided by the United States," he said, adding that the vast majority of the international community rejects this approach.
In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar launched a blistering attack on Russia after Polyanskiy reiterated that there is no alternative to a diplomatic solution and accused Tel Aviv’s policies of threatening regional stability.
Palestinian representative calls for an end to occupation
Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said: "While Israel is demanding that the world take a stance against what it claims is the starvation of its captives, it is starving an entire civilian population—shooting at them as they seek water and food, and holding two million people captive under its deadly siege."
He noted that 76 Palestinian prisoners have died due to torture, starvation, or medical neglect in the last 20 months alone.
"The solution is ending Israel's occupation and the disastrous conflict, the realization of an independent Palestinian state, the fulfilment of Palestinians’ rights, respect for international law, and the implementation of the two-state solution," Mansour said.
He added that the International Conference has charted "an irreversible path to peace."
He reiterated Palestine’s readiness to work with the United States, Saudi Arabia, and France to finally achieve peace in the Middle East. "Enough bloodshed. Enough wars. Enough suffering," he declared.
China and Sierra Leone condemn humanitarian crisis
Lamenting that Israel’s war has killed over 60,000 Palestinians in Gaza, China’s representative stressed that "the harsh reality has shown that military means are not the solution."
He expressed grave concern over reports of escalating occupation and collective punishment by Israel and condemned the humanitarian crisis facing Gaza’s population.
Sierra Leone's UN Ambassador Michael Imran Kanu also condemned the "inhumane treatment" of captives but emphasized: "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, he warned, are conditions that may constitute a war crime.
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