Some hostages were held in UN camps – plus, the next group of promised hostage releases
Reports that freed Israeli hostages had been held in U.N. shelters in the Gaza Strip amount to “a very serious allegation,” Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, told JNS on Wednesday.
“We call on those who have information on this to share it formally with UNRWA or other parts of the United Nations so that we can investigate it further,” Haq told JNS at the global body’s press conference in New York.
Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher, who were released on Sunday, said Hamas had held them in U.N. camps that the global body created during the war to protect Gazan civilians and to provide them with food and water.
I get tired of saying that things like this are not a surprise, but they’re absolutely not a surprise to anyone who’s followed the news. The UN camps for “innocent civilians” cannot assure that the people there are not terrorists, and in fact the majority of Gazans are also Hamas supporters. Therefore it’s highly possible that plenty of people in the camps were aware that hostages were there and didn’t tell.
Oh, and having the UN investigate is like having the fox investigate the fowl murders in the henhouse.
Tomorrow is Saturday, and word is that the following hostages will be released:
The families of hostages Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag have been notified that they are expected to be released by Hamas tomorrow.
The four are IDF surveillance soldiers kidnapped by Hamas from the Nahal Oz post during the October 7, 2023, onslaught.
Apparently, the agreement required that civilian females be released prior to female soldiers, and there is still one civilian unaccounted for. That may be considered a violation of the exchange agreement.
Of these four, the most famous (to me, anyway) is Naama Levy. I wrote about her in this post from December of 2023:
Naama Levy was the young woman last seen in a video, being dragged away by terrorists and with the crotch area of her pants bloodied. Here is some slightly encouraging news, courtesy of the freed hostages …
The news was that she was still alive. Apparently, she is still alive; I conclude that only from the fact that it’s been said that live hostages will be released before dead ones.
And what of the Bibas family, with the two tiny red-headed children? I have long thought they are dead, but I fervently hope I’m wrong about that. If they are dead, Hamas will of course claim that they were killed by Israeli bombs.
Here’s a story about the family:
Kfir Bibas, whose second birthday falls on Saturday, is the youngest of the 251 hostages seized by terrorists during Hamas’s brutal and unprecedented attack on southern Israel more than 15 months ago, which killed over 1,200 people and began the war in Gaza.
Hamas said in November 2023 that Kfir, his brother Ariel and their mother Shiri were killed in an Israeli strike, but since the Israeli military did not confirm their deaths, many are clinging to the hope they are still alive.
“To imagine them coming back alive brings me immense joy,” Hila Shlomo, a musician, told AFP at “Hostages Square,” a central plaza in Tel Aviv that has become the focus of protests and campaigns on the captives’ behalf.
“What happened to these children is a symbol, a symbol of man-made evil, but also of the victory of life if we manage to free them, whatever the cost,” said the 23-year-old, visibly moved.
I came across the following video yesterday, and I urge you to watch it even though the subject matter may seem arcane. But I found it fascinating. It’s a rabbi explaining traditional Jewish religious teaching on what price to pay for the freeing of captives:
As I said in a previous comment thread: Trump should sign an EO to defund the UN and evict it from Turtle Bay (i.e., American soil).
You can’t see me clutching my pearls in surprise at this news.
As for the duty to ransom captives, ok, it’s a divine command, but it certainly does lend itself to abuse by bad actors and I believe there are some asterisks so as not to encourage the taking of Jews for ransom. I also believe it is not universally accepted that exchanging thousands of future-Jew-killing terrorists for a few captive Jews is the right way to fulfill this command.
Some other cultures–can’t remember now but I may be confusing real life with the Fremen from Dune–held funerals for their captives, whether dead or not, and continued to carry the war to the enemy.
League of Nations – Failure
United Nations – Failure
Whatever Comes Next – Surely, the 3rd times the charm! [sarc]
@pwfd:United Nations – Failure
The UN may have been sold to the public as a promoter of world peace and All Good Things, but in reality it was designed to prevent wars between the great powers, and there it arguably has succeeded. France and Germany have not been at war, the US has not been at war with Russia or China.
That said, it does fail to live up to even these low expectations with the corruption and shenanigans the blue helmets get up to.
“…and there it arguably has succeeded.”
…so far. And I’m not sure fighting a proxy war in Ukraine with US weapons, money, know-how, training, covert operatives, non-covert operatives, targeting, and a partridge in a pear tree doesn’t count as a war “between great powers”. We’re practically holding Volodymyr “I am actually the US government’s highest paid employee” Zelensky’s hand before he crosses the street at this point.
I have had Naama Levy in mind for these two years and more, and rejoice to hear she may be released alive.
part of me fears that by releasing the names of the next group of hostages is nothing more than another cruel game Hamas is playing. What I mean is imagine the psychological drama they could be causing by getting the hopes of those families up. only to have them dashed if they do not release those they named.
charles:
I think they’ll keep their word on that because if they don’t the deal is broken and they will almost certainly be attacked.
Praising With Faint Damns – agree than America has been in some conflicts with Russia & China – North Korea & Vietnam for two.
That’s the most ridiculous comment I’ve seen on this blog—in the short time I’ve been here…
America did offer Zelensky a ‘hand‘ when Russia reinvaded Ukraine:
PWFD:
Poor, poor Vladdy, all the beast (spelling intentional) laid plans for a three day invasion (and then of course de-ukrainian purging and cleansing of the wholly Russian soil occupied by those Nazis (known to the rest of the world as Ukraine)) went agley. Now poor Vladdy has to “fight” NATO and nearly all of Europe. Do your part PWFD, Russia must triumph over evil!
Good news. Naama Levy’s name is on the list of four female IDF soldiers to be released Saturday afternoon.
https://nypost.com/2025/01/24/world-news/hamas-releases-names-of-4-israeli-hostages-to-be-freed-in-second-exchange-following-cease-fire-deal/
There is no basis whatsoever for believing anything Hamas claims to be true.
hey, Praising:
You have it wrong, because Dr. [sic] Fauci holds, or held, the highest paid ‘crat in the USA (Dem- or bureau-? Matters not).
its hard not to be cynical, yes we know this how they operate, but even after a year and a half, that they continue to do so, notably you see that link didn’t come from a major paper, which seems to follow the statements of the hamas health ministry,
I recall seeing billboards in the 60s or 70s saying “Get US Out of the UN Now”. Should have been done then; better late than never though. If nothing else, relocate the UN to Somalia or some such place.
I really like this Emily Damari person.
https://m.jpost.com/israel-news/article-839135
Move the UN to Gaza, that should make everybody happy, right?