Two protesters burst into UN Security Council meeting, demanding release of hostages
UN official says women crying ‘Free the hostages’ — one of them the head of Israel’s Teachers’ Union — left when asked to; US envoy calls for pressure on Hamas to accept deal
NEW YORK — A meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the Middle East was briefly interrupted on Wednesday when two protesters stood up with signs and yelled for the release of Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The demonstration came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov began to address the 15-member body after a statement by Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan. Protests inside the UN headquarters in New York are rare.
Lavrov, who was chairing the meeting because Russia is the council president for July, responded: “I don’t understand, speak more clearly. One of you can speak clearly to say what you want to say. I see you don’t wish to do so, very well.”
Diplomats in the Security Council chamber said the women, dressed in black, yelled “Free the hostages.” UN security asked the women to leave the chamber and they did so, a UN official said.
Israel’s UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the protest.
One of the women was Israel’s Teachers Union chief, Yaffa Ben-David, who later told Ynet that it was her “duty to influence in every place I can, even if it means I’m expelled from the hall.”
“It’s time for the UN to understand that this is about human life and that we, the people of Israel, won’t give up on a single hostage. [Hostage] Ohad Yahalomi is married to one of our teachers, who I’ve personally supported, and seen her pain and struggle from up close,” she said.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield called on the Security Council to pressure Hamas to accept the ceasefire and hostage release deal being negotiated.
Thomas-Greenfield said Israel and Hamas have agreed on a framework, which was based on the Israeli proposal submitted in May, outlined by US President Joe Biden in a subsequent speech and enshrined in a resolution adopted by the council.
“There are still gaps to be closed, and this council must keep pressure on Hamas to accept the deal outlined in Resolution 2735, and begin implementing it without delay and without conditions. This is what we all want here in this council, it’s what the Palestinians in Gaza want,” she said.
The US envoy noted that improvements have been made in the distribution of humanitarian aid throughout Gaza since a recent breakdown of law and order. However, many requests by the UN and other aid organizations “particularly related to communications equipment vital for deconfliction processes, remain unresolved.
“We urge the Government of Israel to work with the UN to overcome these and other roadblocks,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
“Palestinian civilians are living in hell. Over and over, they have had to flee from one place to another in search of safety. And so many people have lost parents and siblings, children and friends, including in a recent IDF strike on a UN-supported school in Nuseirat camp,” she continued.
IDF said it struck terror operatives who were using the school to plan and carry out attacks against troops operating in Gaza. It said it took several steps to mitigate harm to civilians, including aerial surveillance and use of “precision munitions.”
Thomas-Greenfield stressed the administration’s continued concern with settler violence in the West Bank and condemned recent Israeli steps to expand its footprint there, saying that “unilateral actions, like the Government of Israel’s settlement program, are inconsistent with international law and detrimental to a two-state solution.”
The war in Gaza began when Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, including civilians and soldiers, back into Gaza.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 38,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack.
Meanwhile, it is believed that 116 hostages taken on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive.
The Times of Israel Community.