Jerusalem:

Shoshan Haran, her daughter and two grandchildren were taken hostage by Hamas militants in Israel on Oct. 7. On Thursday, Haran recalled the effects of 50 days in captivity on her three-year-old granddaughter when they were finally released.

“Three weeks after we were released, Yahel only whispers, too afraid to make a noise. She hid from everyone, too afraid to go outside. She wet the bed and had nightmares, too afraid she may be captured again,” Haran told an informal U.N. Security Council meeting on Thursday, convened by the United States.

Hamas fighters attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

The U.S. focused the meeting on “condemning hostage-taking in Israel on Oct. 7 as a psychological tool of terrorism.”

Ayelet Samerano, whose son was killed on Oct. 7 and his body taken by Hamas, and Gili Roman, whose sister was taken hostage and released in November, also addressed the gathering.

“We cannot allow the normalization of this unprecedented form of terrorism – mass hostage taking of unarmed civilians, women, children, elderly,” said Haran, now 68, founder of farming and food security charity Fair Planet.

“What you see as our problem today might become a worldwide problem to each and every country near future,” she said.

In three resolutions, the U.N. Security Council has called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

“Yet Hamas and other terrorist groups have not relented. So today, let us again demand Hamas release all remaining hostages,” said U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield. “To put it simply: It would save lives on all sides.”

HOSTAGE FOCUS

Israel is retaliating against Hamas in Gaza over the Oct. 7 attack. Gaza health authorities say Israel has killed more than 35,000 people in Gaza since then.

“Unfortunately, in the occupied Palestinian territories, we see the barbaric killing machine of the Israeli occupier wreaking havoc in Gaza under the pretext of ensuring the release of the hostages,” said Algerian diplomat Ahmed Sahraoui.

He said the issue of hostage-taking was of “paramount importance” and criticized Israel for detaining Palestinians.

The Palestinian Prisoners Association says at least 9,100 Palestinians are detained in Israel. That does not include those arrested in Gaza since Oct. 7. Israel’s military says it acts according to Israeli and international law and those it arrests get access to food, water, medication and proper clothing.

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan told the meeting that 132 hostages taken on Oct. 7 are still being held in Gaza and that this was the “first meeting being held by any U.N. body to focus on their suffering and ways to release them.”

“The hostages are the most urgent and critical humanitarian issue that the council must focus on,” Erdan told the meeting.

“Has the council condemned Hamas and demanded they permit the Red Cross to check on the hostages? Have you imposed sanctions on Hamas leadership until they release the hostages? What action has been taken?” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jerusalem:

The Israeli army said Thursday that two Thai hostages earlier believed to be alive in Gaza were killed in the October 7 attack and their bodies are being held in the Palestinian territory.

“We informed the families of two kidnapped Thai citizens, who worked in agriculture in the plantations near Kibbutz Beeri, that they were murdered in the terrorist attack on October 7 and their bodies are being held by Hamas,” said army spokesman Daniel Hagari.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:
An elderly Israeli hostage who was released by Hamas said she was thrashed by the Gaza-based outfit as she was taken into their territory on October 7, but was then well-treated during her two-week captivity, news agency Reuters reported today.

Here’s your 10-point cheatsheet to this big story

An 8-year-old Israeli boy, believed to be among the 200 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, spent his 9th birthday while in captivity. Before turning 9, he had sent a birthday invitation to his friends to celebrate the day with him. Now, a picture of the heartbreaking invitation that has surfaced on Instagram, shows Ohad standing with a heart-shaped leaf in his palm.

“Come celebrate my 9th birthday with me on Saturday, October 21, 2023,” says the invitation.

”This is the invitation he sent to his friends to celebrate with him over the weekend. Instead of being surrounded by family and friends, he will ‘celebrate’ in captivity, in the hands of terrorists. On October 7, 2023, Ohad, along with his mother and grandparents, were ripped from their home, kidnapped by Hamas, and taken to Gaza. Ohad, along with hundreds of civilians, is being held hostage by Hamas,” the caption of the post shared by StandWithUs reads.

Watch the video here:

The caption of the post further described him as a bright young boy and an only child. ”Ohad is a brilliant chess player and a wizard with the Rubik’s Cube. He also loves playing soccer and tennis. Please share this so we can bring him home,” the caption added.

Reacting to the image, one user wrote, ”Oh little Ohad, just a child. Please let him be released and safe with his family and the remainder of the Israelis.” Another commented, ”Praying for the safe return of Ohad and all of the hostages.”

According to the Times Of Israel, Ohad was kidnapped by Hamas operatives on October 7 and taken to Gaza along with his mother Keren, and his grandparents.

The Israeli military confirmed that the family’s cell phones had been detected in Gaza.

”I keep imagining what he is going through. He’s a sensitive boy. Did he see dead bodies? He wears glasses. Did they take them from him? Can he see anything? I keep thinking of every scenario, hoping for the least catastrophic. I just hope that he is safe and with his mother, ” Ohad’s grief-stricken father, Avi Zichri said. 

Notably, Ohad is Mr. Zichri’s only child with his partner, Keren Munder, a 54-year-old special education teacher and volleyball coach for children with disabilities. 

Exposure to violent conflict can produce fear, horror, and lifelong trauma in young children. As the Israel-Hamas war intensifies, the conflict is taking a horrendous toll on innocent children from both regions. Several heartwrenching visuals of children crying, running through the streets, and cowering in bomb shelters after airstrikes have surfaced online. Recently, another heartbreaking image of a scared little girl hiding in a storage unit after surviving the Hamas attack went viral.

 

New Delhi:

At least 100 Israeli civilians and soldiers have been taken hostage during the terror attack by Hamas group, the Israeli embassy in the US said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Over 300 Israelis have been “murdered” and more than 5,000 rockets have been fired by the Hamas group, the embassy said.

A majority of the kidnapping and hostage-taking happened in the first hour of the surprise terror attack by the Hamas group, whose fighters infiltrated into Israel in large numbers via powered paragliders and bulldozers to raze border fences.

Many graphic visuals on social media show injured Israeli soldiers and civilians, with their hands tied, being taken by force in Hamas vehicles. In one video, Hamas group is seen kicking and hitting the corpse of a woman on the back of a truck.

The conflict’s bloodiest escalation in decades saw Hamas carry out a massive rocket barrage and ground, air and sea offensive on Saturday.

Gaza officials said intense Israeli air strikes on the coastal enclave had brought the Palestinian death toll to at least 256, with nearly 1,788 wounded.

Israeli TV stations carried telephone calls from terrified residents of towns and kibbutzes speaking even as gunmen were trying to break into their shelters on Saturday, news agency Reuters reported.

A woman identified as Ella, barricaded in a bomb shelter for hours in Be’eri kibbutz, where there were reports of Israelis held hostage by Hamas, spoke live with N12 News.

“We can hear a lot of gunfire, we were told that terrorists are in the dining hall, we can hear a lot of shooting,” she said. “I’ve lost contact with my family. I know my father has been kidnapped … no one is telling us what’s going on. I don’t know if my mother is alive.”

Adding to the shock, Palestinian groups circulated footage on social media showing what they said were captured Israeli soldiers and civilians being driven into Gaza and hostages being held by more armed men inside Israel.

With inputs from Reuters