The United Nations Security Council is holding a hostage-family briefing on Wednesday featuring an address by a relative of one of the Israelis being held by Hamas in Gaza.
According to the Hostage and Missing Families Forum Headquarters, an Israeli group representing the captives and their families, it marks the first time in Security Council history that a hostage’s family member will address the 15-country forum at U.N. headquarters in New York.
Michael Levy, whose brother Or was kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, will deliver remarks at the opening of the session, the topic of which is to be the situation in the Middle East.
“This unprecedented invitation follows sustained efforts by hostage families in Washington, and the Hostage Families Forum in Israel, New York, and [Washington],” the forum said.
Eyal Kalderon, whose cousin Ofer Kalderon was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023, and is still being held in Gaza, told JNS on Wednesday, “It’s very important for Michael to be speaking in front of the U.N. Security Council today, because this organization and especially the Security Council tried a few times to force Israel to accept a ceasefire and end the war in Gaza while omitting to speak about the hostages.
“They didn’t prioritize the hostage crisis as a main issue of the war in Gaza. They just focused on the Gazan side,” he said.
“They need to look into Michael’s eyes, hear about the conditions in which the hostages are held in the hell tunnels of Gaza and find a solution. The hostages don’t have time. The Security Council must speak up and demand the return of the hostages. Through that, the war in Gaza will end,” Kalderon continued.
“The hostages must come home. This is a war crime,” he said.
Hamas currently holds 100 hostages in Gaza, 64 of whom are still alive according to the latest Israeli estimates.
The event will be broadcast live at 10 a.m. N.Y. time and 5 p.m. Israel time.
