Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on 3 August he had asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to deliver food and provide urgent medical care to Israeli hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He told reporters he had spoken with Julian Larison, head of the ICRC delegation in the region, after militant groups circulated videos showing emaciated captives. Israeli sources added that Netanyahu was exploring a parallel military effort to secure the hostages while allowing humanitarian supplies into the enclave. Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, responded that it is prepared to cooperate with the Red Cross, provided Israel opens regular humanitarian corridors for Gaza and halts airstrikes during aid deliveries. The group said the captives currently receive the same rations as Gaza’s broader population and would not be given preferential treatment under the blockade.