Sat Nov 09 10:20:04 UTC 2024: ## Former Hamas Hostage Slams UN for Inaction on Captives in Gaza
**New York, November 7, 2024:** A former Hamas hostage, Mia Shem, has sharply criticized the United Nations and other humanitarian groups for their lack of action in securing the release and well-being of hostages still held in Gaza. Speaking outside the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Shem, who was released in November 2023, described her harrowing ordeal and expressed frustration over the UN’s perceived inaction.
“Not a single humanitarian agency saw me or treated me,” Shem said, detailing her 50 days in captivity marked by isolation, lack of medical treatment, and intimidation. “Where was the Red Cross? Where was the UN demanding access to us?”
Shem, a 22-year-old Israeli-French dual national, recounted being held in a Palestinian home where she endured harassment from an adult and taunts from a child. She concluded, “There are no innocents in Gaza, not even one.”
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon echoed Shem’s criticism, condemning the UN’s “complete moral failure” in addressing the situation. He called the UN’s silence “unforgivable.”
While the UN Security Council has issued statements urging Hamas to release Israeli hostages, no concrete actions or sanctions have been proposed to enforce these demands, according to a report in the New York Post.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has maintained its neutral stance, stating that it cannot adopt a strong public position but expressing a desire to visit Israeli captives.
This criticism comes against the backdrop of a year-long Israeli onslaught in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of over 43,000 Palestinians, a majority of whom were children and women. The Israeli government has justified its military action as a response to Hamas’s October 7 attack on a music festival and parts of southern Israel, which resulted in over 1200 deaths and the capture of 254 hostages by Hamas.
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