The Security Council today heard harrowing testimony from a former Israeli hostage amid urgent calls for the immediate, unconditional and dignified release of hostages held in Gaza, as well as the swift restoration of the ceasefire, while Israel pledged to fight until all hostages are freed.
Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, said the ceasefire that went into effect on 19 January had "offered a glimmer of hope" by reuniting 25 Israeli hostages with their loved ones and returning the remains of eight deceased hostages. As of today, at least 59 hostages - alive and deceased - are still being held captive, he noted.
"The testimonies of those released provide terrifying accounts of their captivity, including physical and psychological torture, sexual violence and deprivation," he said. The hostages must be allowed to receive visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The significant Israeli air strikes in Gaza in recent days have also been devastating - hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, including women and children, and one United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) staff member, he noted.
"With every passing day, we move further away from the objective of returning the remaining hostages safely to their homes," he warned, stressing the need for a renewed ceasefire.
"I've come back from hell," said Eli Sharabi, who was held hostage in Gaza for 491 days. Describing the day he was taken captive, he said he was torn away from his wife and two daughters. His arms and legs were tied so tightly, the ropes tore into his flesh. He was fed a piece of pita a day, maybe a sip of tea. "They beat me; they broke my ribs," he said, adding: "We had to beg for food, beg to use the bathroom; begging was our existence."
"For 491 days, I dreamt of seeing my family again, only when I returned home, I learned the truth my wife and my daughters had been slaughtered by Hamas terrorists on 7 October 2023," he said.
Where was the United Nations and the Red Cross during his 491 days as a hostage, he asked. "I saw Hamas terrorists carrying boxes with the UN and UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East] emblems on them into the tunnel, feeding terrorists who tortured me and murdered my family," he said. Commending the United States for helping secure his release, he urged Council members: "No more excuses; no more delays; if you stand for humanity, prove it, bring them home."
War Continues until Release of Last Hostage
The representative of Israel said that, for 530 days, 59 innocent people have been trapped in Hamas captivity. "They are starving, in the dark, alone, afraid, suffering beyond what words can capture," he stated. Eli Sharabi testified before the Council today and laid bare the suffering of his captivity. Since 7 October 2023, there have not been a single resolution condemning Hamas. For 530 days, the Council has spoken about Gaza without mentioning the crimes of Hamas. "How can you claim to stand for international law while ignoring the hostages," he asked.
The massive amounts of humanitarian aid that Israel has facilitated, coordinated and allowed into Gaza, he said, have reached every segment of the population except one: the hostages. So many Agencies that claim to be the protectors of humanity but have abandoned the hostages entirely, he added. Detainees in Israel have three meals a day, medical treatment, visitation of the Red Cross, and before the war, they had visitation of families, while the Red Cross has not spent one moment with the hostages in Gaza, he said. Hamas was given a choice, and they chose war. "This will continue until every last hostage is home," he said.
Council members reiterated the call for the release of all hostages, with the speaker for United States commending Eli Sharabi for his courageous first-hand testimony about the depravity of Hamas. On 7 October 2023, that group brutally massacred almost 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages. It "indiscriminately murdered infants and grandparents, partygoers and Holocaust survivors", she said. Noting that "five Americans still need to come home", she added: "President [Donald J.] Trump has been clear Hamas must release all hostages immediately or there will be hell to pay."
Panama's delegate noted that Eli Sharabi was unable to return to his wife and daughters after 16 painful months of captivity "because his home had ceased to exist" due to the inhumane Hamas attack. France's solidarity with the hostages is strong, that country's delegate said, given that French people have also been detained. Making hostage releases into a spectacle recalls "the darkest hours of our history", he said, while the representative of the Republic of Korea stressed that the degrading treatment of hostages is strictly prohibited under international law.
The representative of the United Kingdom noted that a United Nations report has concluded that there were reasonable grounds to suspect sexual violence occurred during the 7 October 2023 attacks. He also expressed concern about reports of sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinian detainees by Israeli forces. These allegations must be fully investigated, he said.
The speaker for Greece, reiterating the call for release of all hostages, said the ceasefire in Gaza was an example of what could be achieved. The representative of Somalia echoed that, noting that last night's Israel Defense Forces strike hit multiple homes in the middle of the night, killing sleeping families.
Restore Ceasefire
Expressing condolences to Eli Sharabi, the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine said: "Maybe no one around the table can fully grasp what such a loss means, the killing of loved ones, prolonged captivity, fear and trauma, but Palestinians can", because "there is not a single Palestinian family that does not have a loved one killed, wounded, detained or displaced". Palestinians come out of Israeli captivity "looking like ghosts, starved and traumatized, beaten and some raped", he said, adding: "Israel arrests our children, our doctors, our teachers, our workers, family members, bystanders, parliamentarians, academics, human rights defenders."
In 42 days of ceasefire, more hostages were released than in 15 months of bombardments, he said, noting that the families of the hostages know this and are demonstrating to restore the ceasefire. Israel's recent strikes killed 400 Palestinians in one night, including over 150 children - one of the largest single-day child death tolls in the last year. While Palestinians call for a ceasefire, Israel's Government is trying to convince its people that killing Palestinians is the only way forward. But, "we are rooted as olive trees, deep in our land, you cannot kill all of us", he underscored.
Hostages Less Safe amid Resumed Fighting
"Putting Gaza under the threat of gunfire will probably not make the hostages safer," China's delegate warned, adding that some hostage families are also worried that the resumption of fighting will put the hostages in greater danger. Regretting Israel's resumption of military operations in the Gaza Strip, the representative of the Russian Federation said it is hard to discuss any prospects of the ceasefire when the Israeli leadership has "already made the choice in favour of war".
Algeria's delegate, noting that Council members have adopted several resolutions calling for the release of all hostages, said over 9,500 Palestinians are currently detained in Israeli prisons with more than 3,400 held under administrative detention without charges. Why are these individuals arrested, he asked. "Only by holding all parties to the same legal standards can we hope to bring an end to the suffering and build a just and lasting peace," he added.
Guyana's delegate urged the Council to be first to institute measures to address violations of international law, including in circumstances where those violations feature as the taking of hostages or the administrative detention of innocent civilians. "Accountability is an important deterrent," she said.
"We have consistently claimed that people trapped in Gaza cannot continue to endure this terrible suffering, let them be Israeli hostages, or Palestinian civilians," said Slovenia's delegate.
Pakistan's delegate said that civilians have been the central victims of the current war. "Hostage-taking is prohibited under international law and constitutes a violation of fundamental humanitarian principles," he recalled, while also adding that the Council must never "forget the thousands of Palestinians, including women and children, who remain arbitrarily detained".
Sierra Leone's delegate and the representative of Denmark, Council President for March, speaking in her national capacity, stressed the importance of immediately releasing all hostages and renewing efforts towards an immediate ceasefire.
