Former hostage Eli Sharabi testified at the UN Security Council on Thursday, sharing harrowing details of his 491-day captivity by Hamas. The special session on Israeli hostages was convened at the request of Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, with Sharabi briefing council ambassadors before Mohammad Khaled Khiari, assistant secretary-general for the Middle East, made his appearance. Sharabi's wife and two daughters were brutally murdered on Oct. 7, 2023.
Video: Eli Sharabi speaks at the UN /Credit:UN Web
Prior to the discussion, Ambassador Danon, Sharabi, and US Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Dorothy Shea, delivered statements to the press. Danon emphasized: "Eli's brave testimony reminds the world who we are fighting for. We will not stop until Hamas is defeated and all hostages return home."
"My paradise turned into hell"
"On October 7, my paradise turned into hell," Sharabi began his chilling testimony. "Hamas terrorists invaded the kibbutz, my home, and tore me away from my family. I haven't seen them since. For 491 days I was held primarily underground in Hamas terror tunnels, bound, starved, beaten, and humiliated. I was a prisoner in darkness, isolated from the world. The monsters enjoyed our suffering."
Sharabi vividly described the moment of his abduction to council members: "On October 7, the door opened. Our dog barked. The terrorists opened fire. Lianne and I threw ourselves on our daughters and shouted at the terrorists to stop. Suddenly there were ten terrorists inside my house. They took my wife and daughters to the kitchen. I couldn't see them anymore. As they dragged me outside, I called to my daughters: 'I'll come back.' It was the last time I saw them."
The former captive recounted his futile attempts to reassure his wife during the attack: "That morning I tried to reassure Lianne, to tell her the army was coming, they always come, but they didn't arrive," he shared painfully. "Outside my quiet home everything disappeared. More than 100 terrorists laughed, celebrated and filmed themselves in our yard."
Sharabi described the terror of being transported to Gaza: "They dragged us to Gaza, my ribs were bruised. When we arrived there, an angry mob tried to lynch me, but the terrorists put me inside a mosque. For them, I was their trophy."
In his courageous testimony, Sharabi revealed disturbing details about his conditions in captivity: "For the first 52 days I was held in an apartment. I was tied with ropes. My hands and feet were tied so tightly that the ropes tore into my flesh. Afterward, Hamas put me in a tunnel, fifty meters underground. The iron chains were so tight they tore my skin. They never removed them, not for one moment."
Sharabi raised serious concerns about humanitarian aid reaching Gaza: "I saw Hamas terrorists carrying boxes with UN and UNRWA symbols on them into the tunnel, dozens of boxes, funded by your governments, feeding terrorists who tortured me and murdered my family. They were eating multiple meals a day from UN aid that was placed before us, and we never received anything from this aid. When you talk about humanitarian aid, remember this: Hamas eats like kings while hostages starve to death."
"At the handover point from Hamas, I met a representative from the Red Cross. She told me, 'Don't worry, you're safe now.' I'm safe? Where was the Red Cross during the last 491 days?" Sharabi questioned.
Concluding his testimony, Sharabi directly addressed Security Council members: "491 days. That's how long I starved, was bound, and begged for my humanity. This is my final request: no more excuses. No more delays, no more moral blindness. You cannot claim to stand with humanity. I am here before you at the UN to say: bring everyone home. If you claim to represent the values of humanity – prove it. Bring them home. Now."
