Fears of famine in Gaza have reached new heights in recent weeks.

Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza may be about to get even more horrifying, even as calls for Benjamin Netanyahu to withdraw grow.

New footage of two Israeli hostages still being held by the Palestinian militants Hamascaused worldwide outrage in recent days, as the clips showed the horrifying conditions they were being kept in while evidently starving.

UK foreign secretary David Lammy said they must be released “unconditionally”, writing on X that the “images of hostages being paraded for propaganda are sickening”.

Hamas has denied that it intentionally starves its prisoners, instead claiming they eat what the Palestinians in Gaza eat during this humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s blockade of aid.

The militants claim they would “respond positively” to any Red Cross request to deliver food and medicine to the prisoners if humanitarian corridors were opened in Gaza.

Relatives of the remaining 49 captives still believed to be held in Gaza have renewed their pleas to Netanyahu, calling on him to reach a peace deal so the Israelis can be released.

Families of hostages protest, demanding the release from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip, at the plaza known as the hostages square in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025.

But the new footage – along with the recent collapse of the indirect ceasefire talks with Hamas – seems to have had the opposite effect on the Israeli leaders.

© HuffPost