Eighty-six Nobel laureates wrote to the UN condemning Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel tweeted Saturday.
The laureates, introducing themselves as “advocates of peace”, denounced the “trained terrorists” in the Oct. 16 letter, titled “Demanding Freedom for Kidnapped Children.”
“Hamas kidnapped hundreds of Israeli soldiers and civilians, including children aged between 6 months and 18 years. Children should never be regarded as pawns in the theater of war. Our moral imperative is unequivocal: Let The Children Go,” the letter read, in part.
The laureates include Iran’s Shirin Ebadi (2003 Peace laureate), Stanford professor Michael Levitt (2013 Chemistry), former Liberian President Ellen Sirleaf (2011 Peace), Harvard professor Eric Maskin (2007 Economics), Nigeria’s Wole Soyinka (1986 Literature), Johns Hopkins University physician-scientist Gregg Semenza (2019 Medicine), and Britain’s Roger Penrose (2020 Physics).
“No war should ever condone mass atrocities. No war normalize [sic] acts of rape and torture. Never will war permit the captivity of innocent young children in the throes of hellish confinement,” their letter further read.
The laureates also provided photographs, one showing a masked Hamas fighter with two young children in arms, and the other of an anguished woman clutching her children, “unable to prevent their heartbreaking abduction.” (RELATED: Family Of American Hostages Released By Hamas Speak Out)
86 Nobel laureates have taken a stand, submitting a heartfelt petition addressed to the @UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres and, by extension, leaders of nations across the globe. This petition conveys a profound moral imperative: the immediate release of the kidnapped… pic.twitter.com/7bKJceAhjP
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) October 21, 2023
“Let us not surrender to the moral exclusion of the world. The act of holding young children in captivity constitutes a war crime, a grievous offense against humanity itself. Our moral call is resolute: Let The Children Go,” the letter ended.
Over 1400 Israelis were killed, over 4500 injured, and at least 203 hostages taken, 30 of whom were children, during the terror attack, according to a data tracker by Reichman University’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism.
Hamas released a 17-year-old American, Natalie Ranaan, and her 59-year-old mother, Judith, late Friday on “humanitarian grounds.” The duo were the first to be released.