Families of Hamas Hostages Plead For Action At UN Human Rights Council

Families of Hamas hostages held in Gaza made an emotional plea for their loved ones’ lives before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Wednesday.

Each speaker detailed the harrowing conditions their family members have endured for almost a year, and called for the release of the 101 remaining hostages in Gaza.

Amit Levy testified about his 20-year-old sister, Naama Levy, who was seen in a viral video from the day of her abduction. The footage shows her bloodied and barefoot, her ankles cut, with her hands bound behind her back she’s forced into a Jeep. The sight of her bloodstained sweatpants raised fears that she may have been sexually assaulted by Hamas terrorists.

“Every day and hour that passes, her life is in grave danger,” Levy said. “She is held without access to food, water, hygiene, or the personal freedoms she once had.”

Hostage family members pleaded with the UN today.

The brother of Naama Levy, who was seen being kidnapped with bloody pants, said his family is “deeply worried.”

“Even someone as strong as Naama cannot remain the same after a year of captivity under constant threat.” pic.twitter.com/iL8RUhINCA

— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 25, 2024

Levy shared that his sister was wounded by a grenade on October 7, and his family worries she hasn’t received proper medical care.

“My family and I are deeply worried about her physical and mental well-being, knowing that even someone as strong as Naama cannot remain the same after a year of captivity under constant threat,” he continued. “No one should endure such inhuman suffering, least of all my little sister, who is the kindest person I know.”

In a Hamas bodycam video released in May, Levy was seen with her face bloodied and pleading with terrorists, telling them she has “friends in Palestine.”

Naama Levy is an alumnus of Hands of Peace, an organization that promotes peace between young Israelis and Palestinians.

Shay Dickmann recalled how three generations of her family were caught in the path of Hamas’s massacre in Kibbutz Be’eri. 

Shay Dickmann shared her family’s tragic story from Hamas’s massacre in Kibbutz Be’eri. She spoke of Carmel Gat who was executed by Hamas after surviving 328 days in Gaza.

“She is dead, but the hope to save lives isn’t dead.” pic.twitter.com/8FCIQjqc6p

— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 25, 2024

“On this day, I learned a lesson from the women in my family: save lives and hold onto hope,” Dickman said.

Her 68-year-old mother Kinnerret saved her husband’s life after spotting the terrorists and warning him before being murdered herself. Her daughter Carmel Gat, who was visiting, was also taken hostage. She survived 328 days in Gaza until she was executed by Hamas in a Rafah tunnel with five other hostages in August.

“For 11 months, our family clung to Carmel’s hope,” Dickmann said in her remarks. “Carmel endured hunger in the tunnels, guarded by terrorists, and survived [328] days, until she was brutally executed by her captors.”

“Carmel will never hug her brothers again. She is dead,” she added. “But the hope to save lives isn’t dead.”

Dickman also recounted the harrowing story of Kinneret’s son, Alon, his wife, Yarden, and their three-year-old daughter, Gefen. Taken hostage, Alon and Gefen managed to escape by fleeing the car they were forced into. Yarden, knowing Alon could run faster, handed him Gefen and ran in the opposite direction, diverting the terrorists. Alon and Gefen hid for 12 hours before reaching safety. Yarden was recaptured but later released as part of a November hostage deal.

Efrat Machikawa called for the return of her 80-year-old uncle, Gadi Moses, a peace activist and grandfather of 12. 

Efrat Machikawa called for the return of her 80-year-old peace activist uncle, Gadi Moses.

“The fact that he has now become a victim of terror from across the very fence he worked to bridge is beyond comprehension,” she said. pic.twitter.com/zkl7bMCAf0

— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 25, 2024

“I belong to the wider Nir Oz community of 400 people in Israel, 25 percent of whom were brutally raped, mutilated, beheaded, burned alive, murdered, or kidnapped by monsters,” Machikawa said.

Moses was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his partner, Efrat Katz, her daughter, Doron Katz-Asher, and Katz-Asher’s two young daughters. Before his capture, Moses left the others in a safe room and attempted to communicate with the Hamas terrorists.

“For 60 years, Gadi has worked to save and improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, including students from Gaza, where he is now held hostage,” Machikawa said. “He helped Palestinians improve agriculture and strengthen their economy through the sustainable use of wastewater and crop adjustments.”

“The fact that he has now become a victim of terror from across the very fence he worked to bridge is beyond comprehension,” she added. “Little did he know that on October 7, humanity would betray him.”

Katz was killed on October 7 in crossfire between Hamas and the Israeli Defense Forces. Asher-Katz and her children were released in the November hostage deal. The family has not received news about Moses since he appeared in a December Islamic Jihad propaganda video.

In her remarks, Diana Levinson’s remarks, shared the heartbreaking fate of her grandson, Shay Levinson, who was killed on October 7 and had his body taken hostage to Gaza.

Diana Levinson told of the heartbreaking fate of her grandson, Shay, who was killed on October 7 and had his body taken hostage to Gaza.

“To this day, there has been no burial and no grave,” she said. “I urge this Council to take action to help us bring the hostages home while… pic.twitter.com/2JaNH8xIzo

— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) September 25, 2024

“Nearly a year since the brutal invasion, 101 hostages — both dead and alive — including elderly, women and young children, are still being held in Gaza under outrageous conditions: deprived of food, basic hygiene, medicine, daylight, and any hope, yet surviving despite these inhumane conditions,” Levinson said.

Shay Levinson’s body has still not been recovered. He was known as a believer in coexistence and a talented volleyball player who played on an Arab village’s team, where he was the only Israeli Jewish member for several years. 

“I urge this Council to take action to help us bring the hostages home while there is still time,” Levinson added.

The UNHRC has been under fire for years for allowing countries with long records of human rights violations — including China, Cuba, and Qatar — to comprise its membership.