By Dilara Afifi and Rania Abu Shamala
ISTANBUL (AA) – A freed Israeli hostage held the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for the death of several captives in the Gaza Strip, saying the Israeli war has turned the enclave into a “pure hell” for everyone inside.
In her testimony before the UN Security Council on Tuesday evening, Noa Argamani blamed the Israeli government for the death of captive Shiri Bibas, her two children, and her friend Yossi Sharabi.
She urged the international community and the Israeli government to work to secure the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza.
Argamani and three other captives were freed in June last year in a deadly Israeli raid that killed at least 274 people and injured nearly 700 others in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
She said that Israeli hostages were alive in captivity and experienced firsthand destructive Israeli bombardment on the Palestinian enclave.
Argamani confirmed that Sharabi was alive when captured by the Palestinian group Hamas in October 2023, but was later killed by Israeli airstrikes, just like the Bibas family. She declared that all of them perished under the rubble due to the bombardment.
“One evening the house that we (were) behold in was blown up and we found ourselves in the destruction…. Yossi and I were stuck under the rubble. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I thought it is going to be my last second of my life,” she recalled.
“I heard Yossi screaming too. But after a few seconds, I stopped hearing from Yossi. I was pulled up from the rubble. I tried to help Yossi but it was already too late.”
- Plea
Argamani appealed to the international community and Netanyahu’s government to work to secure the release of all remaining hostages.
“It's absolutely critical that we put an end to this horrible tragedy,” she said. "The (Gaza) deal must go on and full and completely in all the stages.”
She also revealed her disappointment at not being included in the first group of hostages released after 50 days of the war, nor in any of the categories designated for release.
“I was staying behind. I wasn't part of any category that could be released. I can't even begin to describe the feeling of being the one that left behind.”
Her testimony was a plea for the Israeli government to honor the terms of the Gaza ceasefire agreement with Hamas and proceed with the second phase of the deal, in hopes of securing the release of her partner, Avinatan Or, who remains captive in Gaza.
The first phase of the Gaza agreement took effect on Jan. 19, pausing the Israeli war that has killed more than 48,300 people, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
So far, 25 Israeli hostages and four bodies have been released from Gaza in return for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners under the first phase of the ceasefire deal.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.