The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting on Monday, August 5, 2025, to discuss the ongoing situation in the Middle East, focusing heavily on hostages held by Hamas and humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
The meeting, requested by Israel and supported by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, followed the release of disturbing hostage videos by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The videos showed Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski in visibly distressed condition, prompting renewed international concern.
Of the roughly 250 hostages abducted during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, 49 remain in Gaza. Israel’s letter to the Security Council described the hostages’ conditions as “inhumane,” citing starvation and torture, and urged global action to pressure Hamas for their release.
Assistant Secretary-General Miroslav Jenča and a civil society representative briefed the Council. Among those speaking was UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward, who issued a strong appeal for the release of hostages and increased aid access to Gaza.
“The suffering of the hostages and Palestinian civilians has reached new and shocking depths,” said Woodward, as quoted by the UK Mission to the UN.
She condemned Hamas’ propaganda tactics and reaffirmed the UK’s stance that the group should have no role in Gaza’s governance. At the same time, she criticized Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian aid, citing accounts from doctors who witnessed worsening child malnutrition and blocked baby formula at Gaza’s border.
“We need to see restrictions on aid delivery lifted in line with the principles of humanity,” Woodward said. She also demanded that Israel investigate the death of a Palestinian Red Crescent worker allegedly killed in an Israeli strike.
The UK reaffirmed its commitment to a two-state solution and urged renewed efforts toward a ceasefire. “Statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and is essential to the long-term security of Israel,” Woodward added.
The urgent meeting came days after the Two State Solution Conference and amid growing calls for a political breakthrough to end the conflict and return hostages safely.
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