Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

[SvennoJ]

Former captive: Gaza deal ‘must go on in full, completely’

An Israeli woman kidnapped by Hamas and held in Gaza told the United Nations Security Council how the ceasefire must continue to save other captives still being held.

“I need to make sure that the world knows that: the deal must go on in full … completely, in all the stages,” Noa Argamani told the Security Council before then describing how a house she was held in was blown up, trapping her in the rubble.

“I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe – I thought it’s going to be the last seconds of my life. Being here with you today is a miracle.”

Bibas family slams Netanyahu for invocation of slain loved ones

Ofri Bibas-Levy, sister of freed Israeli captive Yarden Bibas, says the family has been learning details of the deaths of their loved ones taken captive by Hamas in Gaza through government statements – despite asking for such details to be shared privately.

“This is outright abuse of a family that has already been enduring hell for 16 months,” Bibas-Levy said.

Hamas has said that Shiri Bibas and the two small children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, were killed in an Israeli air strike, but Israel has said they were killed by Hamas fighters.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu revealed specifics in remarks before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Tuesday, one day after the family explicitly asked that such details not be shared publicly.

“We ask that all necessary measures be taken to protect the family’s privacy and dignity,” the family members wrote to Netanyahu.

Freed Israeli captive says ‘our lives aren’t worth enough’

Israeli soldier Agam Berger, 20, recounted her ordeal as a captive in Gaza after she was recently freed by Hamas under the ceasefire deal.

Berger told Israeli public radio Reshet Bet that she was moved around multiple times during the nearly 16 months she was held in the Gaza Strip. She stayed in tunnels and apartments with other female captives, with the conditions varying depending on where she was held and who was guarding her.
Berger said her conditions worsened after two military raids early last year rescued Israelis, making her captors more anxious.

“We had food and conditions that, for the most part, were OK when you know what could have been,” she said. For much of the time, Berger was given two meals a day, pita and rice.

In her little access to news media, she learned of developments in Israel’s war on Gaza, including the debate in Israel over what price to pay for the captives’ release. She said it was demoralising to learn there were some in government unwilling to make big concessions to free the captives.

“It’s like saying that our lives aren’t worth enough,” she said.

Ex-Israeli negotiator slams Israel, US at UN Security Council

Earlier, we reported that the rescued Israeli captive Noa Argamani told the UN Security Council the ceasefire and captive exchange deal between Israel and Hamas “must go on in full … completely, in all the stages”.

Former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy also addressed the same meeting.

Levy, who is also the president of the US/Middle East Project, told the council the “unlawful forced displacement of Palestinians must not be endorsed or encouraged by any state, let alone a permanent member of the Security Council”, in an apparent reference to Trump’s plan to expel Palestinians and take over Gaza.

Levy also drew comparisons between Israel and apartheid South Africa, saying that Israel has conducted itself in ways that render the UN Charter “meaningless”.

“It is the kind of affront which, decades ago, led to apartheid South Africa being suspended from active participation at the UN,” he said.

Daniel Levy: "A minute of silence for each of the Bibas children would be appropriate, as would a minute of silence for each of the more than 18,000 Palestinian children murdered in #Israel's devastation of #Gaza. That silence would extend to over 300 hours." pic.twitter.com/7KVr46UNm9

— Rami Ayari (@Raminho) February 25, 2025