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Hostage survivor tells U.N. Security Council: “Bring them all home”
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Summary
Elisha Rabi, who says he was held 491 days by Hamas and returned weighing 44 kilos after relatives were killed, urged the United Nations and member states to press for the release of remaining hostages. A U.S. representative at the meeting backed immediate release of the 59 hostages named in remarks.
Elisha Rabi, a 53-year-old man who said he was held by Hamas for 491 days, told the United Nations Security Council that he returned from captivity to urge the world to secure the release of remaining hostages.
"My name is Elisha Rabi. I am 53 years old. I've come back from hell. I've returned to tell my story," Rabi said, describing being taken from Kibbutz Beri on Oct. 7, beaten, chained and held underground. He said he lost more than 30 kilos and weighed 44 kilos when released on Feb. 8, 2025.
Rabi gave a first-person account of violence during his capture and detention, saying his wife, Lianne, and two daughters, Noia and Yael, were murdered, and that his brother Yossi was killed and remains in Gaza "denied the dignity of burial." He said captors showed him a photograph of his brother before his release.
Rabi directly criticized international institutions in his remarks. "Where was the Red Cross when we needed them? Where was the United Nations? 491 days of torment. 491 days of starvation, of being chained underground, and no 1 came," he said, adding that he came to the council to press member states to act.
"Bring them all home," Rabi said in closing remarks recorded at the meeting.
A representative who identified the United States' support for the survivor said testimony from hostages is important to the council's understanding of the conflict. The representative said the attack on Oct. 7, 2023, took 250 people hostage and called for immediate release of the remaining hostages. "Hamas must release all 59 hostages immediately," the representative said, naming a set of individuals referenced in the meeting transcript.
Rabi said he met with political leaders abroad after his release, saying, "I met president Trump at the White House and thanked him for securing my release and many others. ... I met with prime minister Starmer at 10 Downing Street." He said he raised the issue with leaders to press for further releases.
The meeting record includes expressions of gratitude for Rabi's testimony and characterizations of him as a witness to "the barbarity of Hamas." The council remarks that appear in the transcript emphasize that surviving hostages' firsthand accounts are evidence members should consider when debating next steps.
No formal Security Council resolution or decision is recorded in the provided transcript excerpt. Speakers named events, personal meetings and the number of hostages the transcript lists, but the transcript does not record a vote or an adopted text during the excerpts provided.
The transcript excerpts used for this report show Rabi's testimony and subsequent remarks by an official who identified the United States in support of immediate release; they do not include formal Security Council action or an agreed council outcome.
