At a special hearing in the UN Security Council, which dealt with the report of the sexual crimes committed by Hamas terrorists on October 7, a delegation of more than 40 members of the families of the abductees will be waiting. The members of the delegation listened to the representatives of several countries, who actually criticized Israel.
Or Atias, the cousin of Amit Buskila, couldn’t hold on: “I left in the middle of the discussion. It’s impossible to hear it anymore, it’s impossible to hear how much the world is against us. They don’t even believe our stories, they think they’re fabrications. The participants in the discussion questioned In everything that happened in Israel during the surprise attack by Hamas.”
The discussion took place following the report published by the delegation of UN Secretary General Patten, who visited Israel with her team and collected testimonies. At the beginning of the discussion, she spoke: “I visited Israel on January 29. The purpose of the mission was to collect and confirm reports of sexual violence on and after October 7. We collected our independent information. I need to be clear – there was no attempt by the Secretary General to silence my report I received logistical and financial support.” She told about her visit to the areas that were attacked and her meetings with relatives of abductees, residents of kibbutzim and members of the academy.
In the south of Israel, I visited communities that are still in trauma, shock and immense pain, and are still mourning their loved ones and trying to recover,” Patten said. “The families and relatives of the abductees are in a continuous nightmare. I saw the pain in their eyes, and if I saw their pain.” She turned to the council members and said: “Try to put yourself in their shoes, some of them are here and trying to find hope in this body. There are 19 women among the kidnapped, what shall we say to them? Abduction of civilians is completely prohibited by international law.”
Foreign Minister Israel Katz spoke at the hearing and demanded to exert as much pressure as possible on Hamas to unconditionally release the abductees and declare it a terrorist organization. “I am here on behalf of the women and girls who were raped, murdered and mutilated by terrorist killers of Hamas. I came here to protest, as loudly as I can, against the crimes committed by the killers of Hamas against humanity, with the clear approval of their religious leaders – to terrorize Israeli society. The killers These goddesses were so proud to abuse and rape our poor victims that they took pictures and live-streamed their horrific acts.”
Regarding the tensions with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Katz said that “what he is trying to do is to prevent a decision being made against Hamas as a terrorist organization, even though ISIS and Al-Qaeda have done less than them and they have been declared. For political reasons, he does not want to do that.” . Katz claimed that “under Guterres’ leadership, because of his negative attitude towards Israel, the UN becomes a stage for anti-Semitism – instead of being an organization that keeps the peace, it supports Hamas, refuses to condemn it and we will not give up.”
At the debate there were representatives who actually chose to attack Israel. The representative of Guyana in the discussion claimed: “Inhumane treatment of Palestinian detainees, including sexual violence committed in detentions and checkpoints. We support a full and independent investigation into all cases of sexual violence.” The representative of Russia condemned, “any sexual abuse in its forms”, and called for such actions to be investigated. However, she said: “At the same time, we are convinced that these crimes, even though they are so terrible, cannot justify the collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.”
The representative of Russia even accused that the UN “is not doing enough on the issue to stop the genocide that is going on in Gaza. Israel is intentionally blocking action on the issue.” According to her, “the report we receive is only partly true, and does not compel Israel to allow full access to investigate the possibility of crimes against international laws on its part. Most of the information was received from the Israeli government, we oppose the working methods that led to this report.” However, she said that “the conclusions are shocking, there is no justification for the sexual crimes against Israel on October 7, and there is no justification for the sexual crimes of the Israeli security forces against Palestinians.”
Foreign Minister Israel Katz referred to the statements made by the representative of Russia and said that he intends to send a letter to her and the officials in Moscow, “to protest the hypocrisy and the attempt to make a comparison between a general statement and reality. I met with the author of the report and asked her to deny these statements. The families were shocked by this comparison.”
Or Atias, the cousin of Amit Buskila said after the discussion:
“It’s hard to hear these things when I know for sure that my cousin is there,” Atias shared. “I know about the difficult stories that other people have gone through there, whether they are people my age, children younger than me, babies, it is not something that is caught. I do not see that my presence in the discussion, the cousin of a kidnapped person, or the father of a kidnapped person and even people who abused them and published such difficult videos that they would help – they don’t think it’s true.”
Shai Dickman, Carmel Gat’s cousin, told about her relative: “Carmel is originally from Kibbutz Bari, where she was born and raised. She lives in Tel Aviv and on October 7 she came to her family in the kibbutz for a holiday meal, and on Saturday she was kidnapped from her parents’ home. 50 days without We heard from her, and on the 50th day abductees who returned in the deal brought her a sign of life. They said that Carmel did yoga with them in captivity and she finds the strength to give strength to others as well. The abductees returned and Carmel stayed there and since then more than 100 days have passed and I am waiting for her, the family is waiting , the friends are waiting, Carmel has many more dreams that she is waiting to fulfill. I am waiting for her to return to the family meals, to return to her friends, to return to complete her degree in occupational therapy. To do what she wants as long as she comes back already.”
Regarding the families’ arrival at the UN debate, Dickman said: “Our presence at the UN Security Council is significant from the very fact that the debate is taking place. The report showed and brought to the world’s attention the atrocities committed on October 7, I hope it helps illustrate that we are dealing with a terrorist organization and The depth of the atrocities that took place. I hope this will help emphasize the urgency of their return.”
Dickman added: “What I saw in the discussion itself, is that the countries condemn what happened on October 7 and that they demand the unconditional return of the abductees, which is something very encouraging. Beyond that, the countries also linked the return of the abductees to the current situation, a ceasefire and a two-state solution. Almost all the countries repeated this. On the way here, we saw a demonstration of support by the Israelis or the local Jews. They called for the abductees to be returned home and waved signs that we also wave in Israel, and it really did my heart good to know that there is support here as well. Both difficult and encouraging things were said here I hope this will promote the return of our loved ones home – the return of Carmel that I am waiting for so much.”
Eli Elbag, Leari’s father, waved during the discussion in the Security Council the disk of the abductees – with a picture of his daughter on it, who has been held captive for 157 days. “We are talking about our children and I was shocked by how they attack us,” he said angrily. “That we murdered and raped Palestinian girls? Where did they get that from? Country after country said it and I was shocked. Today at the hearing they stuck a knife in my heart, crushed it, and killed me again. I sat and heard country after country, person after person talk nonsense, while they murdered They massacred us. And they didn’t just do it to Jews, to Muslims too. Where is the world? We are just people who want to live in peace. People came to murder us, burned us and the countries say we did it. It just drove me crazy.”
Shay Venkert, the father of Omar who was kidnapped to the Gaza Strip from the Nova party, said that he came with the delegation to hear about the detailed report on the sexual assaults, rape and abuse, which happened mainly to women. Venkert commented on the fact that the report showed certain evidence that men may also experience sexual abuse and harm: “The report is very detailed, very poignant and of course everyone agrees with this report and with the findings that are there.”
Venkert added: “One of the things that keeps us optimistic is that we are talking about the abductees again in the Security Council in an emergency discussion. This is something that has never happened before. All the countries at the conference itself said unequivocally that the abductees should be released without any conditions, and this is very optimistic for us. It was a very significant discussion.” . Regarding the claims made about injuries by IDF soldiers, Vankert said: “I guess these are claims that try to balance something specific in the report. When terrorists are arrested, they are stripped for fear that they are carrying cargo. It is possible that something from this floated into the report. I don’t believe there is such a thing.”
Afek and Guy Inan, cousins of Segev Kalfon who was kidnapped from the party in Ra’i, said as they left the hearing: “Feelings are a bit mixed. On the one hand, there seems to be a general agreement that all the abductees should be released immediately and without conditions, but on the other hand there is a balance with other things such as investigating offenses committed by The Israel Police or the two-state solution, this is neither the place nor the time to talk about these things. The goal here is to talk about the immediate return of the abductees and what was done to them on October 7 and what still happens to them every day they are there, without the ‘but’ that comes after it “.
Shani Luke’s father, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists and whose body is being held in the Gaza Strip, spoke with Minister Katz and the author of the UN report. “The newspapers all over Europe showed two pictures, one of a beautiful woman dancing, and next to it a picture where you see the terrorists lying on the van . Look at these barbarians. You have to decide who you want your children to be – dancing people or barbaric people. One side is the light, the other side is the darkness. Show the world who you are.”
Ayelet Goldin, sister of the abducted Lt. Hadar Goldin whose body has been kept in the Gaza Strip since Operation Protective Edge in 2014, turned in tears to Primla Patten, who authored the shocking UN report: “We have been fighting here for 10 years. We are not asking for your mercy, we need you to fight for the laws. The UN is responsible for upholding the laws. We need you. We know that the humanitarian laws are on our side. All we need is for someone to implement them. I’m begging you, bring them all back alive or dead.”
