Eli Sharabi asks U.N. Human Rights Council to 'name these crimes,' recognize hostage abuse as torture

"Former hostage Eli Sharabi called on the United Nations Human Rights Council on Thursday to recognize the treatment of hostages held in Gaza as torture and demand criminal investigations into those responsible.

‘Mr. President, my name is Eli Sharabi. I am a survivor of torture,’ Sharabi said in a prerecorded address. ‘For 491 days I was held underground, chained, starved, beaten and humiliated.’

Sharabi was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri during the Hamas-led October 7 attack. His wife, Lianne, and their daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were murdered. His brother Yossi was also abducted and later killed in captivity.

‘I learned my family was dead only upon my release,’ Sharabi told the council.

Sharabi was freed in February 2025. He said he returned weighing 44 kilograms after being deliberately deprived of food during captivity...

‘I have chosen the road of justice, beyond politics and grounded in our shared humanity,’ he said. ‘This council must act: recognize the torture, demand criminal investigations and confront the terrorist networks.

‘Name these crimes. End impunity.’"