Sharabi urges UN Council to recognize hostage torture — Jerusalem Post
Former hostage Eli Sharabi, during the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, called for the treatment of hostages held in Gaza to be recognized as torture and for criminal investigations into those responsible. As reported by The Jerusalem Post, his pre-recorded address was delivered during time allotted to the Jerusalem Institute of Justice.
In his address, Sharabi described himself as a survivor of torture and said that for 491 days he had been held underground, shackled, starved, beaten and humiliated. According to him, after his release in February 2025, he weighed 44 kilograms.
Address to the UN Council
Sharabi was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri during the Hamas-led attack on October 7. His wife Lianne and daughters Noa and Yahel were killed, while his brother Yossi was also abducted and later died in captivity. Sharabi told the Council that he learned of his family’s deaths only after his release.
The speech took place during a general debate under the agenda item on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. It was not a separate session dedicated to Israel or the hostages.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Institute’s findings
Sharabi referred to the Jerusalem Institute of Justice report, “Abducted: Hostage-Taking as a Form of Torture.” The document’s authors believe that starvation, isolation, physical violence, threats and psychological abuse of hostages should be considered torture under international law.
The institute said it had collected 6,971 data points across 251 hostage profiles. According to the report, at least 78 released hostages showed signs of starvation, acute malnutrition or significant muscle loss, while 68% of people held for more than 200 days were forced to participate in propaganda videos.
The report calls on UN bodies and national authorities to investigate hostage-taking and related violence as possible torture, war crimes and crimes against humanity. At the same time, these conclusions constitute the report authors’ legal assessment, not a ruling by a court or international tribunal.
