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Israels U.N. ambassador condemns Hamas after return of Bibas family, calls on U.N. to act
Summary
Ambassador Danny Danon said bodies of returned hostages from the Bibas family were mutilated and urged the United Nations to condemn Hamas; he said a planned phase-one hostage release was delayed after footage showed parading of hostages.
Israels permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Danny Danon, said Tuesday that the recovered bodies of members of the Bibas family and Oded Lifshitz showed signs of mutilation and called on the U.N. to condemn Hamas for the killings.
"For 500 days, we prayed, we fought, and we hoped to bring our dead home," Danon said in a U.N. press briefing. "Hamas didn't just murder them, they slaughtered them in the most depraved way imaginable." He detailed allegations that the victims were killed and their bodies altered to conceal the crimes.
Danon said the alleged mutilation and killing of small children should have drawn a firm response from the United Nations. "The U.N. has held countless emergency meetings on Israel. It has passed endless resolutions. But when terrorists massacred a baby and a child and then mutilated them, the U.N. has no resolutions to offer, no outrage, no action," he said, adding that the silence amounted to permission.
Danon also addressed delays in the first phase of a negotiated hostage release, saying the Israeli side postponed a scheduled transfer after released hostages were publicly paraded. In response to a question from Pamela Falk of U.S. News & World Report about "a delay in phase 1 of the hostage releases," Danon said, "we have seen the horrible parades, and it's not part of the framework we agreed upon. We want to make sure that it will not continue. So, yes, we are delaying the release of the [prisoner] that was supposed to be released, and we want to make sure that, in the future ... we will not see those parades again." He said negotiations were ongoing.
A reporter from Fox News Digital asked about calls from relatives, including the father of a captive named Hisham Al Said, for greater international action to secure releases and humane treatment of hostages. Danon reiterated his criticism of the United Nations, saying families of returned captives included Israeli Muslims and Ethiopian-Israeli citizens and repeating his demand that the U.N. pass a resolution condemning Hamas.
Danon invited the public to a commemoration ceremony at 10 a.m. honoring Ariel, Kfir and Shiri Bibas and Oded Lifshitz, and said the event would be broadcast on U.N. TV.
The briefing consisted of a statement by Ambassador Danon followed by questions from reporters; Danons remarks included graphic allegations about the treatment of hostages and a call for international condemnation but did not specify any immediate new U.N. actions or a timeline for resumed releases.
