At UN, Israeli former hostage appeals for ceasefire deal to go on

By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - An Israeli woman kidnapped by Hamas Palestinian militants recounted her ordeal at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, telling the 15-member body she did not think she would make it out alive, and pleading for a ceasefire to continue.

Noa Argamani was rescued by Israeli forces in June last year, eight months after she and her partner were taken by Hamas from a music festival in southern Israel. Her partner, Avinatan Or, is still held hostage and due to be released during the second phase of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The initial phase of the ceasefire deal, launched on January 19, is due to end on Saturday with dozens of hostages having been released in return for hundreds of Palestinian detainees and convicts held by Israel.

Negotiators have not fully resolved the steps to follow in later phases. Hamas still holds dozens of hostages.

"I need to make sure that the world knows that: the deal must go on in full ... completely, in all the stages," she told the Security Council before then describing how a house she was held hostage in was blown up, trapping her in the rubble.

"I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe - I thought it's going to be the last seconds of my life," said Argamani, adding that she received no medical help from Hamas. "Being here with you today is a miracle."

U.N. Middle East envoy Sigrid Kaag, who is also the senior U.N. humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told the Security Council that a resumption of hostilities in the Palestinian enclave "must be avoided at all costs."

"The trauma is undeniable on both sides," she said. "In my last visit to Gaza, soon after the ceasefire came into effect, I was once again moved by a sense of utter devastation ... and despair due to loss, trauma and a sense of abandonment."

FUTURE OF GAZA

Hamas-led fighters killed 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli tallies. An Israeli retaliatory assault has since laid waste to most of Gaza and killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave's health officials.

Israel has said its goals are to eliminate Hamas, bring home all the hostages and secure the safety and future of Israel.

"Hamas must be eliminated," acting U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Dorothy Shea told the council. "Any plan for reconstruction in Gaza must ensure Hamas is fully removed from power and held accountable for its Oct. 7 terrorist massacre."

"We look forward to a plan from our Arab partners on the future of Gaza that reflects this vision," she said.

Daniel Levy, president of the U.S./Middle East Project think tank, told the Security Council that ending Hamas governance in Gaza was achievable. But he said no party to a conflict would negotiate its own dissolution unless it were destroyed on the battlefield or the root causes of the conflict were addressed.

"Hamas has not been defeated, and there will be resistance as long as there is the structural violence of occupation and apartheid, it is that simple," Levy said.

Israel withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005. The territory has been ruled by Hamas since 2007 but is still considered to be under Israeli occupation by the United Nations. Israel and Egypt control access.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Peter Graff)