The United Nations Security Council holds its first and so far only meeting exclusively on the Hamas hostages. The US called it to condemn the hostage-taking tactic as psychological terror. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the United Nations, said: “Let us all once again call on Hamas to release all remaining hostages. To be clear, this would protect lives on all sides of the conflict.”
The USA is successful. All 15 participating countries criticize the hostage-taking; Russia, China and Algeria also condemn Israeli warfare. Also speaking at the meeting will be Israeli Shoshan Haran, a former hostage and founder of a nonprofit organization that fights famine around the world. She says that hostage-taking should not be allowed to be a new form of terrorism, but must be combated.
On October 7, Haran was abducted to the Gaza Strip along with her daughter and her two children. Haran's husband, the German-Israeli Avshalom Haran, is killed. Her son-in-law Tal Shoham is still hostage in the Gaza Strip.
