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At every step, the UN has failed hostages and their families

This week, families of hostages came to New York to demand their loved ones bodies be returned

May 16, 2025 17:29
Ruby Chen at the UN Security Council - Photo credit - Loey Felipe__.jpg
Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen, briefs the Security Council meeting on protection of civilians in armed conflict. (Loey Felipe)
3 min read

The UN failed the hostages, both in life and in death. That was the message of a delegation of hostage families who addressed the United Nations this week.

For the first time since October 7, the UN Security Council held a special session centred on returning hostages held by hostile parties during armed conflict, based on Resolution 2474.

The Goldin, Neutra and Chen families should never have been at the UN for this grim session.

They came because the UN failed them. Because the international body, established after the Second World War in 1945 to uphold and maintain global peace, never came to them at their time of desperate need.