The United Nations Security Council is slated to convene on Thursday to discuss the return of the bodies of hostages held by Hamas – the first such meeting to be scheduled since October 7, 2023, according to the Israeli delegation in New York.
The meeting, called for by the Trump administration, is scheduled to discuss Resolution 2474, which addresses returning bodies of missing people held by hostile parties amid armed conflict.
Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the UN, told JNS that the discussion of the resolution will be the “result of a determined and uncompromising political struggle”.
“For months, we have been crying out the cry of the hostage families and the world can no longer remain silent,” the envoy said. “Hamas has turned the kidnapping of bodies into a sick industry. They do not treat the dead with respect. They treat them like inventory.”
The dignity of the dead is a sacred value in every religion, Danon added.
“It is impossible to demand human rights on the one hand and accept the possession of bodies by a Nazi terrorist organisation on the other,” he went on. “Israel is demanding something basic, moral, human – to return our boys and girls home.”
If the Security Council is unable to meet “this basic commitment, it loses its relevance,” Danon claimed.
Leah Goldin, the mother of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, whose remains Hamas has held in the Gaza Strip since 2014, is travelling from Israel to New York and is slated to hold a press conference on Thursday with Danon.
Ruby Chen, the father of the Israeli-American hostage Itay Chen, whose body is also being held in Gaza, is expected to address the Security Council.
