transcript
Good morning. Thank you for joining us. Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, will deliver a brief statement about last week’s return of the Bebas family and Oded Lifshitz. At 10 a.m., we will also be holding a special commemoration ceremony to honor their memories, and I invite viewers to tune in to UN TV broadcast found on the UN’s website. If you do have a question for Ambassador Danon, please remember to state your name and news outlet. Today, Israel grieves. For 500 days, we prayed, we fought, and we hoped to bring Oded Lifshitz, Shiri Bebas, Ariel Bebas, and Kfir Bebas back home. Now we know the truth. Hamas didn’t just murder them, they slaughtered them in the most deprived way imaginable. They didn’t shoot Kfir, they didn’t shoot Ariel, they killed them with their bare hands. These monsters looked into the eyes of a nine-month-old baby and his four-year-old brother and strangled, beat, twisted, and shattered them with their hands. One would imagine that there is nothing more sickening than this atrocity. Somehow, there is. To hide their crime, they mutilated their tiny bodies to make it seem as though they died in an air strike. This is who Hamas is, monsters who take pleasure in murdering babies. This is their evil, exposed for the world to see. And yet, the United Nations could not bring itself to condemn them. When Hamas took babies as trophies for terror, these halls stood in silence. The UN 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 UN has no resolutions to offer, no outrage, no action. That silence was permission, and Hamas heard it. We have started to collect the debt Hamas owes us, and we will complete the mission. Every terrorist who had a hand in their murder, who kidnapped them, who tortured them, who tormented them, who murdered them, will be eliminated. Israel will not be silent. We will speak their names, we will demand justice, and we will not stop until every hostage is home and Hamas is eradicated. At 10 today, we will honor the memory of Ariel, Kfir, and Shiri. I invite you all to watch the ceremony and bear witness. Thank you. Ambassador Danone, it’s Pamela Falk from U.S. News and World Report. There’s been a delay in phase one of the hostage releases of the ceasefire because of the parading of hostages when they’re released. What happens next? Can you explain? Thank you. So 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 terrorists that were supposed to be released, and we want to make sure that in the future, and we have more hostages that should come home in the near future, we want to make sure that we will not see those parades again. And have you gotten any reassurances that that won’t happen again? So it’s still ongoing negotiations. Thank you. Hi, Rachel Wolf of Fox News Digital. Kishan al-Said’s father has condemned the Arab world for their silence on his son’s torment at the hands of Hamas for over 10 years. What do you think the UN can do to further action to make sure these hostages are released faster and also to ensure their humane treatment, which clearly hasn’t been happening? So as I said, the UN is silent, and we have to understand that when we look at the hostages coming back, when you look at those faces, we are talking about Muslims, like Kishan, like you mentioned. We are talking about the Mengistu family, Ethiopian family in Israel that was also in a very bad shape, unfortunately. And we demand justice for all of them to come back. The UN should pass a resolution condemning Hamas. Since October 7th, it never happened. Thank you very much.
summary
In a recent statement, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, addressed the atrocities committed by Hamas, focusing on the murder and mutilation of the Bebas family and Oded Lifshitz. Their tragic deaths revealed the gruesome nature of the crimes, including the brutal killings of two young children. Danon criticized the United Nations for its silence and lack of action against Hamas, despite the severity of these crimes. He emphasized Israel’s commitment to justice and vowed to continue efforts to bring all hostages home and hold responsible parties accountable. He also mentioned a delay in the exchange process for hostages due to unacceptable “parades” of released hostages by Hamas, which Israel aims to prevent going forward. In response to questions from reporters, Danon highlighted the ongoing negotiations and reiterated the need for the UN to formally condemn Hamas. A special commemoration ceremony was announced to honor the victims, inviting viewers to tune in online.