Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa'ar called on counterparts from around the world to "publicly express a moral and ethical stance and to exert every possible influence to end the terrible suffering of the Israeli hostages," he said in a statement.

Sa'ar added that he is initiating a special meeting of the UN's Security Council on the subject of the hostages.

"The world cannot remain silent in the face of the difficult images that are the result of deliberate sadistic abuse of the hostages, which also includes starvation by Hamas and Islamic Jihad," the statement says.

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