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STORY: UN / GAZA ISRAEL HOSTAGES
TRT: 07:11
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / NATS
DATELINE: 05 AUGUST 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UN headquarters
05 AUGUST 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations:
“Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups continue to hold 50 hostages, 28 of whom are thought to be deceased, in captivity in horrific conditions. Released hostages have relayed distressing accounts of deprivation, ill-treatment, and abuse. Since 7 October 2023, Hamas and other armed groups have circulated dozens of videos of hostages, including statements made by hostages under duress and clearly suffering.”
4. Med shot, Palestinian Representative Riyad Mansour
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations:
“The latest reports regarding Prime Minister Netanyahu’s possible decision to expand Israel’s military operations through the entire Gaza Strip, if true, are deeply alarming. This would risk catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians and could further endanger the lives of the remaining hostages in Gaza.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ilay David, brother of hostage Evaytar David:
“This past weekend, we received a new video from hell. We were reminded just how much more cruel and inhumane Hamas and its sick partners are. My brother was a living skeleton. He had barely the strength to move or speak. His voice barely recognizable. In that video, my little brother was forced to speak to the world, and then actively began to dig his own grave inside a filthy, dark tunnel in Gaza.”
8. Wide shot, Security Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ilay David, brother of hostage Evaytar David:
“We must call for humanitarian aid to reach the hostages. While aid flows into Gaza to help the population, the hostages are being denied even the most basic necessities of life. They haven't received the shred of humanitarian aid since they were captive. This is a flagrant violation of international law.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Dmitry Polyanskiy, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russian Federation:
“It is also evident that Israel’s complete freedom of action would have been impossible without direct military support and international political cover from the United States. Illustrative in this regard was the joint U.S.-Israeli boycott of the high-level international conference in support of the two-state solution, held from July 28 to 30, as well as Washington’s futile attempts to dissuade its partners from participating in this representative forum. A certain degree of optimism comes from the fact that, despite open pressure from the Americans, most members of the international community were not intimidated and demonstrated solidarity with the Palestinian people. Some Western capitals, albeit belatedly, have even announced plans to recognize the State of Palestine as early as next month.”
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Dorothy Shea, Acting Representative to the United Nations, United States:
“We must be clear that unproductive publicity stunts like last week's Two State Solution Conference and unilateral announcements regarding recognition of a Palestinian state undercut the efforts of mediators and prolong the war.”
13. Wide shot, Security Council
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Palestine:
“Israeli representative sent a letter calling on the Security Council to address violations of international law that need to be condemned, speaking of abhorrent massacres of innocent civilians, of people being starved, tortured and treated inhumanely, of how they appear emaciated, victims of starvation and abuse, not once realizing how much this description matches his own government's actions against an entire civilian population.”
15. Med shot, Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Palestine:
“It is demanding that the world take a stance against conditions of captivity of Israelis when it is holding two million people captive under its deadly siege, when 76 Palestinian prisoners have died under torture or starving or due to medical neglect in the last 20 months alone.”
17. Wide shot, Security Council
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Gideon Saar, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Israel:
“It was really funny to hear Russian Federation Representative after three years and a half of a brutal invasion and brutal war in Ukraine and bombardments on civilian population in Kiev and other places speaking here the way he spoke. I also heard the Palestinian representative. I must say, the Palestinians learned propaganda from you, from the Soviet era, and you were good teachers. The Palestinians invented terrorism as a way to promote their means, and it includes all Palestinians fractions, and until this very day, the Palestinian Authority continue to pay salaries to terrorists and terrorist families accordingly to the crime the terrorists committed, and this is how they encourage terrorism until this very day.”
19. Wide shot, Security Council
20. Wide shot, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon and Minister for Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar walking to the stakeout’s area dais
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Gideon Saar, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Israel:
“The world has been turned upside down. There are countries that acted also in this building to pressure Israel, instead of Hamas, during sensitive days in the negotiations. By attacking Israel, campaigning against Israel and their announcement on a recognition of the virtual Palestinian state, they gave Hamas free gifts and an incentive to continue this war. They directly assassinated the hostage deal and ceasefire. Let me be clear, these countries prolonged the war.”
22. Wide shot, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon and Minister for Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar leaving the stakeout’s area dais
“Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups continue to hold 50 hostages, 28 of whom are thought to be deceased, in captivity in horrific conditions,” the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, Miroslav Jenča, told the Security Council.
Briefing the Security Council today (Aug 05), Jenča said that released hostages had described “distressing accounts of deprivation, ill-treatment, and abuse,” while armed groups had circulated videos showing detainees clearly suffering and speaking under duress. “Since 7 October 2023, Hamas and other armed groups have circulated dozens of videos of hostages,” he said.
The meeting came days after the release of new footage by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad showing two Israeli hostages, Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, visibly emaciated and with David being forced to dig his own grave.
Ilay David, the brother of Evyatar David, said, “My brother was a living skeleton. He had barely the strength to move or speak.” He added, “We were reminded just how much more cruel and inhumane Hamas and its sick partners are.”
David urged the international community to ensure humanitarian aid reaches the hostages. “While aid flows into Gaza to help the population, the hostages are being denied even the most basic necessities of life. They haven't received the shred of humanitarian aid since they were captive. This is a flagrant violation of international law,” he said.
Russian Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy said it was “evident that Israel’s complete freedom of action would have been impossible without direct military support and international political cover from the United States. Illustrative in this regard was the joint U.S.-Israeli boycott of the high-level international conference in support of the two-state solution, held from July 28 to 30, as well as Washington’s futile attempts to dissuade its partners from participating in this representative forum.”
The US Representative Dorothy Shea said, “We must be clear that unproductive publicity stunts like last week's Two State Solution Conference and unilateral announcements regarding recognition of a Palestinian state undercut the efforts of mediators and prolong the war.”
Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said, Israel is “demanding that the world take a stance against conditions of captivity of Israelis when it is holding two million people captive under its deadly siege, when 76 Palestinian prisoners have died under torture or starving or due to medical neglect in the last 20 months alone.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said, “The Palestinians invented terrorism as a way to promote their means, and it includes all Palestinians fractions. And until this very day, the Palestinian Authority continue to pay salaries to terrorists and terrorist families accordingly to the crime the terrorists committed, and this is how they encourage terrorism until this very day.”
Speaking to reporters before the Security Council’s meeting Saar said certain countries had undermined negotiations by supporting Palestinian state recognition. “They gave Hamas free gifts and an incentive to continue this war. They directly assassinated the hostage deal and ceasefire,” he said. “Let me be clear, these countries prolonged the war.”
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