‘I was treated worse than an animal’: Freed hostage Eli Sharabi says of his captivity, ahead of UN address

Speaking ahead of his address to the United Nations Security Council, Eli Sharabi, a former hostage released by the Hamas terror group in Gaza last month, gives a harrowing account of his time in captivity.

“I was treated worse than an animal,” says Sharabi.

“The chains they kept me in tore into my skin from the moment I entered until the moment I was released,” he continues. “Begging became my existence.”

Sharabi says that just before his release, Hamas showed him a picture of his murdered brother, Yossi, laughing as they told him of his death. Yossi’s body is still being held in Gaza.

Sharabi adds that during his time in captivity he received no help from ordinary Gazans or international organizations.

“No one in Gaza helped me. The civilians saw us suffering and they cheered our kidnappers. They were definitely involved,” says Sharabi.

“Where was the Red Cross? Where was the United Nations?” he asks.

“Now I will stand before the UNSC to say this: no more excuses, no more delays, no more moral blindness,” says Sharabi, minutes before entering the meeting.