United Nations Security Council must issue binding resolutions to stop war on Gaza: Hamas

In a recorded video message broadcast by Al Jazeera Arabic on Monday, Hamas senior representative Osama Hamdan called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to issue firm and binding resolutions to rein in Israel and end the war on Gaza.

"What is required is that the UN Security Council issue clear and binding resolutions to the occupation to stop the war of extermination, including massacres, violations, starvation and destruction of civilian life in the Gaza Strip, and to oblige the occupation to withdraw, open the crossings for humanitarian aid, and stop its violations against [Palestinian] prisoners in Israeli prisons," Hamdan said.

His statement comes as the UNSC holds a special session on Monday on the conditions of Israeli captives in Gaza, following an appeal by Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon.

Hamdan's video also follows images broadcast by the Hamas military wing, the Qassam Brigades, over the weekend, showing Israeli captives looking emaciated. The images caused outrage in Israel.

"The world has witnessed the humane treatment received by the enemy prisoners of the resistance since 7 October 2023 through the duration of their captivity," Hamdan said. "The resistance has always made it clear that the enemy prisoners eat what our besieged and hungry people eat, and they drink from what [our people] drink".

Reiterating the statement made by Qassam spokesperson Abu Obeida on Sunday, Hamdan said Hamas is ready to work with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to bring in food and medicine to the Israeli captives it is holding in Gaza, in a bid to "force the occupation to open the humanitarian corridors in a normal and permanent manner for the passage of food and medicine to all our people".

"Breaking the siege, opening all the crossings immediately, and bringing food, water and medicine urgently to the entire Gaza Strip will end the humanitarian catastrophe" and leave no need for the scandal-plagued, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), Hamdan said.