Hamas' armed wing is ready to deliver Red Cross aid to the hostages it is holding in Gaza if Israel opens humanitarian corridors permanently and halts "all forms of air traffic" during the delivery of packages to the hostages, its military spokesperson said on Sunday.
"(We) are ready to respond positively (to) any request by the Red Cross to deliver food and medicine to enemy prisoners. However, we condition our acceptance on the opening of humanitarian corridors... for the passage of food and medicine... across all areas of the Gaza Strip," Hamas's military wing wrote in a statement.
The response came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested that the ICRC help provide food to the hostages held in Gaza, and after the agency issued a "call to be granted access to the hostages" in a statement posted on X.
"The al-Qassam Brigades is ready to deal positively with any Red Cross request to deliver food and medicine to (Israeli) enemy captives," the group's spokesperson, Abu Obeida, said in a statement on Telegram.
He conditioned the delivery "on the full and continuous opening of humanitarian corridors to allow the flow of food and medical supplies to all our people across Gaza, and on halting enemy aerial activity during the delivery of aid parcels to the captives."
Abu Obeida emphasized that the group "does not deliberately starve the captives," saying they receive the same food available to Hamas fighters and ordinary Palestinians under siege. "They will not be granted special privileges while our people endure starvation and blockade," he added.
