Addressing the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, Michael Levy, the brother of hostage Or Levy, was the first hostage family member since the Hamas October 7 massacre to receive an invitation by the council to testify before it.
“Today, I stand before you not just as Michael Levy, but as a brother, a son, a human being, and as someone whose life has been shattered by unimaginable loss and despair,” Levy began his testimony.
“My brother is one of the 100 innocent hostages currently held by Hamas in Gaza,” he said.
Or Levy, 33, and his wife, Einav Elkayam-Levy, 32, arrived at the Nova music festival on October 7 just nine minutes before Hamas terrorists launched their attack, Michael said.
He recounted his brother’s last phone call from a nearby bomb shelter to his family: “Mom, you don’t want to know what’s going on here.”
Unbearable suffering
“That was the last time we heard his voice. Ten minutes later, Hamas terrorists stormed the shelter. They threw grenades, sprayed people with bullets, murdered Einav, and kidnapped Or into the tunnels of Gaza,” Levy testified. “The last image we have of him is heartbreaking… covered in his wife’s blood, shocked and terrified.”
Levy said if his brother managed to survive another day, every moment he remained in captivity would be a moment of unbearable suffering for him and all who loved him.
Or and Einav’s three-year-old son kept asking for his parents, Levy said.
“I’m here today to remind this council and the world of duty… not just as diplomats, but as people, as mothers, fathers, siblings, and friends, because this is not merely a political issue. This is a human issue, a moral issue,” Levy said.
“I want to ask every member of this council, what would you do if it was your child, your brother, your loved one?”
According to Levy, “Hamas’s actions are not just blatant violations of international law; they are an assault on humanity itself,” he continued. “Holding civilians hostage – men, women, children – is a violation of the principles that this very council was created to protect, and yet, your silence is deafening.”
“Your inaction is suffocating,” he added, “And for every day this council fails to act, the message to the world is clear: That some lives are worth saving and others are not.”
But, Levy said, he refused to accept that message.
He thanked the UN, US President Joe Biden, and US President-elect Donald Trump for their support.
“We place our deepest hopes and faith that you will bring this tragedy to an end,” Levy said regarding Trump. “Your decisive leadership has already brought life into a situation that feels so hopeless. We believe in your strength, your leadership, and your commitment to justice to help bring our loved ones back home.”
Levy concluded his remarks by saying Wednesday was his birthday, the second one without his younger brother, Or.
“I’m not asking for any presents, celebration, or even a cake,” Levy said. “My only birthday wish is [that you]… bring them home. Thank you.”
During the proceeding, Shira Efron, a senior director of policy research at the Israel Policy Forum, called on the UN to deliver an “unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and its actions.”
“There is a long-standing sense of UN bias, compounded by what Israel sees as an inefficient, insufficient reaction to October 7 and its aftermath and the evidence of the UNRWA staff’s ties to Hamas,” she said.
Israelis needed an international reaffirmation of the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in a state of their own and acknowledgment of the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel.
“Neither side will be partners in a political process that we both need if that process denies the legitimacy of these rights,” Efron said.
She added, “Just as it did when it passed the Partition Plan in 1947, the UN has an important role to play in helping Israelis and Palestinians move beyond what has been the darkest period in their shared history.”
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