Gaza: ‘Bring them all home now’, freed hostage tells Security Council

This article is published in association with United Nations.

A senior UN political affairs official called for Israel and Hamas to restore the shattered ceasefire in Gaza on Thursday and release all remaining hostages, while one of those freed told the Security Council of his 500-day ordeal in captivity.

Briefing ambassadors, Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General at the Department of Political Affairs (DPPA), reiterated the UN’s unequivocal condemnation of the horrific attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups on Israeli communities on 7 October 2023.

More than 1,200 Israelis were brutally killed and over 250 taken hostage. At least 59 people – alive and deceased – remain in the custody of Hamas and other armed groups inside the enclave.

“Nothing can justify the intentional killing, torture, sexual violence, and destruction – entire families murdered, burned in their homes, taken hostage,” Mr. Khiari said.

“The events of that horrific day will not be forgotten.”

Escalating conflict

Mr. Khiari also reported on the worsening situation in Gaza following the collapse of the two-month ceasefire and hostages release deal – and    resumption of full-blown conflict.

Israeli airstrikes have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians, including women and children, he said, adding also that six UN staff members have been killed in the past three days.

Calling for an urgent return to the ceasefire, Mr. Khiari warned that “with every passing day, we move further away from the objective of returning the remaining hostages safely to their homes.”  

He recalled UN relief chief Tom Fletcher’s briefing to the Council earlier this week, “a renewed ceasefire is the best way of protecting civilians – in Gaza, in the occupied Palestinian territory and in Israel – releasing hostages and detainees and allowing aid and commercial supplies in.”

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, briefs the Security Council.

A survivor’s testimony: I came back from hell

The Security Council also heard from Eli Sharabi, an Israeli survivor who spent 491 days in Hamas captivity. Taken from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri on 7 October 2023, Mr. Sharabi was held underground, chained, starved and subjected to psychological and physical abuse.

“I have come back from hell,” he told ambassadors.

“For 491 days. I was kept mostly underground in Hamas terror tunnels…held captive in the darkness, isolated from the world by Hamas terrorists,” he continued.

“For 491 days. I held on to hope, I imagined the life we would rebuild, I dreamt of seeing my family again,” he said.

However, only when he returned home last month, he learned the truth that his wife and two daughters had been killed by Hamas on 7 October.

‘Telling their stories’

Mr. Sharabi emphasised that he appeared before the Security Council today to tell the story of his brother, Yossi, who was also taken hostage and killed, and others still in Gaza.

“My brother Yossi, murdered in Hamas captivity, his body still held hostage, still 50 metres underground. I swore to him that I would tell his story,” Mr. Sharabi said, “for every hostage still in Hamas’ hands, I am here to tell you the whole truth.”

He described the events of 7 October when Hamas attacked Kibbutz Be’eri, how he and his wife, Lianne, tried to protect their daughters and how he was taken away.

‘Begging was our existence’

Mr. Sharabi detailed the horrors of captivity, describing how hostages were deprived of food, medical care and basic hygiene.

“We had to beg for food, beg to use the bathroom. Begging was our existence,” he said, adding, “Hamas [terrorists] ate like kings while [we] starved.”

Mr. Sharabi was freed on 8 February, as part of the hostage release and ceasefire deal. Since his release, he has met both US President Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, narrating the plight of hostages and appealing for their release.

“Now, I am here before you at the United Nations to say – bring them all home. No more excuses, no more delays. If you stand for humanity, prove it. Bring them all home.”