Freed hostage Eli Sharabi pleads for UN to bring home other captives still in Gaza

Eli Sharabi made an impassioned plea for the release of hostages still captive in the Palestinian territory, saying he had ‘come back from hell’.

Eli Sharabi during a United Nations Security Council meeting concerning the situation in the Middle East. Picture: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/AFP

An Israeli held hostage by Hamas for 16 months in the Gaza Strip has made an impassioned plea before the UN Security Council for the release of those still captive in the Palestinian territory, saying he had “come back from hell.”

“On October 7, my heaven turned to hell. Sirens began, Hamas terrorists invaded, and I was ripped away from my family, never to see them again,” Eli Sharabi said on Thursday, recounting the 2023 attack in which his wife and two daughters were killed.

“I’m here before you now to give my testimony and to ask: Where was the United Nations? Where was the Red Cross? Where was the world?” the 53-year-old – who was freed on February 8 – told the council.

“I’m 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 home

“I was kept mostly underground in Hamas terror tunnels – chained, starved, beaten and humiliated,” during his 491 days in captivity, Sharabi recounted, echoing some of what he shared in an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 last month.

“When I was released, I weighed just 44kg. I had lost over 30kg, nearly half my body weight,” he told the Security Council.

While held captive, Sharabi said he was painfully tied up with ropes or chains to the point that it ripped his skin. The constraints were never removed – even when he was escorted to the restroom.

“I cannot begin to describe the agony. It was hell,” Sharabi said.

Sharabi was among the 251 hostages captured by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which left 1218 Israelis dead, most of whom were civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.

He only learned upon being freed of the deaths of his wife and two daughters in Kibbutz Beeri, where he was kidnapped.

The overall death toll in Gaza since the start of the war stands at 49,617, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

Sharabi’s brother Yossi was taken hostage separately and died in captivity, the Israeli military said in early 2024. His remains are believed to be in Gaza.