Former Hamas hostage briefs UN Security Council on the 'pure hell' that was captivity in Gaza
UNITED NATIONS – Former Hamas hostage Noa Argamani briefed the U.N. Security Council on her experience in Hamas captivity and made a plea for all the hostages to be released from "pure hell."
"Being here today is a miracle, but I'm here to tell you we have no time," Argamani told the Security Council. She spoke about witnessing horrors, not receiving medical care and being held in dire conditions.
A video of Argamani's kidnapping from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, went viral as she was forced on to a motorcycle by Hamas terrorists and dragged into Gaza.
"I believe that you all, the international community, must understand that the hostages are in hell."
Argamani, who spent eight months in Hamas captivity before being rescued by Israeli soldiers, said the hostages feel as though they have been "abandoned by the world."
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Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon praised Argamani's "bravery and dignity," telling the council, "Noa Argamani is not just a witness or a victim of Hamas' cruelty, she is a survivor."
Even after Argamani told her story, which many on the council acknowledged was harrowing, much of the U.N. Security Council's session was focused on Israel's actions throughout the war in Gaza. Several speakers offered brief acknowledgments of Argamani's testimony before launching into criticisms of Israel.
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Danon told the press, "Unfortunately, we don't have high expectations of the council. The very fact that since Oct. 7, they were not able to pass a resolution about the hostages, about the atrocities of Oct. 7, it speaks for itself."
However, the ambassador thanked the U.S., the U.K., Greece and France for discussing the hostages and the brutal murders of the Bibas family.
During her briefing, Argamani made a plea for the release of her partner, Avinatan Or, who was also kidnapped at the Nova music festival and who remains captive in Gaza.
"Until Avinatan returns, my heart is in captivity," Argamani told the Security Council.
Israel and Hamas entered a ceasefire agreement in January and are in Phase One in which 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees will be exchanged for the remaining hostages. However, Israel delayed its most recent release of prisoners in protest of Hamas' treatment of the hostages, including forcing them to participate in ceremonies.Original article source: Former Hamas hostage briefs UN Security Council on the 'pure hell' that was captivity in Gaza
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Newsweek
12 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Exclusive: Israel's Herzog Reacts to US Strikes—'Have to Defend Ourselves'
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Washington used deception tactics and a host of fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft traveling ahead of B-2 heavy bombers to sweep for Iranian fighter jets and air defenses, Caine added. At 6:40 p.m. ET, the first B-2 dropped two GBU-57/B bombs at Fordow, followed by another site, the top general said. The rest of the munitions were dropped in the following 25 minutes, and Iran did not fire at U.S. aircraft traveling in or out of Iran, Caine added. Experts and officials said on Sunday it was too early to tell exactly how much damage has been done to Iran's network of nuclear sites. Preliminary assessments indicate all three facilities sustained "extremely severe damage," Caine said. In a Sunday afternoon Truth Social post, Trump pushed back against criticism from Republican lawmaker Thomas Massie of Kentucky, asserting that the U.S. had effectively "taken the 'bomb'" away from Iran by targeting the three nuclear sites. Massie has said that Trump needed congressional approval to launch the aerial attack. During an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting requested by Iran, Secretary-General António Guterres appealed for urgent action to halt the violence and revive negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. "We cannot—and must not—give up on peace," Guterres said, calling for a verifiable agreement with full access for U.N. nuclear inspectors to rebuild trust. Stressing the stakes, he warned that the world faces a clear choice between the path of escalation and that of diplomacy. "We know which path is right," he declared.
Los Angeles Times
an hour ago
- Los Angeles Times
With 40,000 troops in the region, U.S. braces for response as Iran weighs its options
WASHINGTON — Fallout from President Trump's historic gamble to strike Iran's nuclear facilities reverberated across the Middle East Sunday, as Washington braced for an unpredictable response from a cornered but determined Islamic Republic. While the Iranian government downplayed the impact of the U.S. attack, noting the depths of its nuclear know-how built over decades of study, U.S. military officials said its precision strikes against Iran's three main nuclear facilities caused 'extremely severe damage and destruction.' A senior Israeli official told The Times that Jerusalem was so satisfied with the operation that it was prepared to suspend hostilities if Iran ends its missile salvos against Israeli territory. 'We are ready to be done,' the Israeli official said, granted anonymity to speak candidly. As the dust settled, the sun rose and satellite imagery emerged of the wreckage, the main question among Trump administration officials became how Tehran would respond — both militarily, against U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf and around the world, as well as with the remnants of its nuclear program, with so much of it destroyed. Tehran's nuclear-armed allies, in Russia and North Korea, have been critical of the military campaign, with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev raising the prospect of Moscow giving Iran a nuclear warhead in response to the attacks. The Israeli official dismissed that idea, alluding to direct talks with Moscow over the Iranian program. 'We are not concerned,' the official said. Trump's military action, dubbed 'Operation Midnight Hammer,' was a contingency years in the making, prepared and much feared by Trump's predecessors over two decades as a desperate last resort to a nuclear Iran. Ever since Tehran resumed its fissile enrichment program in 2005, Republican and Democratic presidents alike have warned that the Islamic Republic could never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon. But a constellation of diplomatic talks and complex agreements have failed to dissuade Tehran from a fundamental principle of a 'right to enrich' uranium — near to weapons grade — on its own soil. Despite the dramatic nature of the U.S. air raid, few in Washington expressed an appetite for a prolonged U.S. war with Iran and echoed Israel's interest in a truce after assessing its initial operations a success. Vice President JD Vance denied that the United States was 'at war' with Iran on Sunday, telling CBS that the nation is, instead, 'at war with Iran's nuclear program.' But the prospect of another full-scale U.S. war in the Middle East, made palpable by the weekend strikes, shook Capitol Hill on Sunday, compelling Democrats who have long advocated a tough approach to Iran to push for a vote to restrict Trump under the War Powers Act. More than 60 members of Congress, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, called on the Trump administration to seek congressional authorization for any further action. At least one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, joined in the call. The Pentagon said that seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers deployed a total of 14 Massive Ordnance Penetrators — 30,000-pound bombs known as 'bunker busters,' for their ability to destroy facilities buried deep underground — against Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. 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'There will be either peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,' Trump said, flanked by his vice president, national security advisor and secretary of defense. 'Remember, there are many targets left. Tonight's was the most difficult of them all, by far, and perhaps the most lethal. But if peace does not come quickly, we will go after those other targets with precision, speed and skill. Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes.' Across the region Sunday, the question paramount on observers' minds was what shape Iran's response would take. Iranian officials downplayed the strikes' impact, acknowledging damage to nuclear facilities but that the know-how remained intact. 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Other officials, including leaders in the targeted areas in Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow, reassured residents there was no nuclear contamination as a result of the strikes and that they could 'go on with their lives,' according to a statement Sunday from government spokesperson Fatemah Mohajerani. The U.S. attacks drew swift pleas for restraint from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, both of which issued statements calling on all parties to de-escalate. Iraq, meanwhile, said the U.S. escalation 'constitutes a grave threat to peace and security in the Middle East,' according to an interview with its government spokesman on Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera. Oman, a key mediator in the negotiations between Tehran and Washington, was more scathing, expressing what it said was its 'denunciation and condemnation' of the U.S.'s attacks. In Europe, as well, governments urged caution and affirmed support for Israel. 'We have consistently been clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and can no longer pose a threat to regional security,' France, Germany, and Italy, known as the E3, said in a statement. 'Our aim continues to be to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.' The last significant face-off between Iran and the United States happened during Trump's first term, when he ordered the assassination of top Iranian commander Gen. Qassem Suleimani in 2020. That attack spurred predictions of a furious retaliation, with fears of Tehran deploying its missile arsenal or activating its network of regional militias to attack U.S. forces and interests across Washington's footprint in the region. Instead, Tehran reacted with little more than an openly telegraphed ballistic missile barrage on a U.S. base in Iraq. Iran's options are even more limited this time. Much of that network — known as the 'Axis of Resistance' and which included militias and pro-Tehran governments in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Afghanistan and Yemen — lies incapacitated after more than 20 months of Israeli attacks. Allies such as Russia and China, though issuing condemnations of the U.S. attack, appear to have little appetite for involvement beyond statements and offers of mediation. And how much remains of Tehran's missile capacity is unclear, with the Israeli official estimating roughly 1,000 ballistic missiles – half of their capacity before the most recent conflict started – remaining available to them. Nevertheless, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that the United States should expect 'regrettable responses.' 'Instead of learning from repeated failures, Washington effectively placed itself on the front lines of aggression by directly attacking peaceful installations,' said a statement from the Guard Corps on Sunday. It hinted that its targets would include U.S. military presence in the region. 'The number, dispersion, and size of U.S. military bases in the region are not a strength, but have doubled their vulnerability,' the statement said. The United States has more than 40,000 stationed in the region, according to Pentagon figures, and has bases in at least 10 countries in the region, not to mention a significant presence at sea. Yet experts say the likeliest scenario would involve disruptions to shipping lanes, with Iran leveraging its control of the Strait of Hormuz, an oil transit chokepoint handling a fifth of the world's energy flows, that is 30 miles wide at its narrowest point; or calling on Yemen's Houthis to intensify their harassment campaign of merchant vessels on the Red Sea. It a situation in which Iran has experience: During its conflict with Iraq in the eighties, Tehran engaged in the the so-called 'Tanker War,' attacked hundreds of Iraqi ships near Hormuz and entering into direct confrontations with the U.S. Navy. Shippers are already girding themselves for disruptions. But Danish shipping giant Maersk said it was continuing to use the Strait of Hormuz for the time being. 'We will continuously monitor the security risk to our specific vessels in the region and are ready to take operational actions as needed,' Maersk said in a statement. Wilner reported from Washington, Bulos from Beirut.
an hour ago
Sources: Pentagon prepared Iran plans as final attempts at diplomacy failed
President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan quietly tried to arrange a meeting between senior U.S. and Iranian officials in Istanbul last week, two officials told ABC News. Erdoğan called Trump on Monday during the G7 Summit and suggested a meeting in Istanbul for the next day, those officials said. That meeting would never happen. Iran's supreme leader, fearing assassination, went into hiding and couldn't be reached to approve the meeting, those U.S. officials told ABC News. The White House declined to comment. Axios was first to report the details. The president's extraordinary action followed weeks of tension and shifting messages. When we traveled with the president to his Bedminster golf club on the weekend of June 8, there was a sudden shift in schedule: The president would no longer be traveling back to the White House but instead, he would be traveling to Camp David on Sunday. Among the topics the president was briefed on then was the escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, according to sources. And, more specifically, Israel's plans to move forward with a strike on Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would later convey his plans directly to Trump. Since the Israeli initial strike on Iran, Netanyahu and the president have remained in close contact -- speaking almost every single day, multiple sources tell ABC News. Just one week ago, in a brief phone interview, the president told me he wouldn't give Iran a deadline. He mulled the possibility of Russia serving as a mediator, an idea he later abandoned. He said it was 'possible' the U.S. could get involved, but the administration was not there yet. He would then abruptly leave the G7 Summit, traveling back to the White House, holding meetings with his national security team day after day. His tone started to change surrounding Iran. It appeared he was warming up to the idea of the United States getting involved. We reported the president approved attack plans, but did not make a final decision. He set that two-week deadline —giving Iran 14 days max to come to the table. Two days later, the U.S. would strike. The president departed his Bedminster golf club Saturday afternoon and returned to the White House for a national security meeting. The senior administration official said that in the week leading up to the strike, efforts were made for diplomacy, mainly through the president's special envoy, Steve Witkoff. As those efforts continued, the Pentagon simultaneously prepared the operation. By the end of the week, there was a growing belief among U.S. officials that Iran was not going to come to the table to reach a deal, according to sources. I'm told Trump was briefed daily on Israel's efforts and the operation itself as he decided whether to move forward. He stayed in close contact with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth while traveling to Bedminster, receiving updates until he made the final call.
