Two Israeli protesters burst into the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday and demanded the release of the Israeli hostages in Gaza, as Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was chairing a meeting of the body.
The Times of Israel reported:
The demonstration came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov began to address the 15-member body after a statement by Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan. Protests inside the UN headquarters in New York are rare.
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Diplomats in the Security Council chamber said the women, dressed in black, yelled “Free the hostages.” UN security asked the women to leave the chamber and they did so, a UN official said.
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One of the women was Israel’s Teachers Union chief, Yaffa Ben-David, who later told Ynet that it was her “duty to influence in every place I can, even if it means I’m expelled from the hall.”
As negotiations between Israel and Hamas continue to stall, there have been renewed efforts to draw attention to the plight of the Israeli hostages, 120 of whom are still in Gaza. Of those, roughly half are thought to still be alive.
Ronen and Orna Neutra, the parents of 22-year-old Israeli-American Omer Neutra, spoke from the stage at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night. The convention also held a prayer for the hostages on Monday night. The Israeli government said it was “extremely grateful to the Republican National Convention” for featuring the issue. Former hostage Noa Argamani, who was rescued in a raid last month, is set to accompany Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the U.S. when he arrives next week to address a special joint session of Congress.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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