As Israel continues to fend off the most horrific attack on its civilians in history, a B’nai B’rith International delegation met with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

The B’nai B’rith leaders conveyed the urgency of resounding support for Israel’s need to protect the lives of its diverse citizens from Hamas terrorists who have perpetrated the deadliest mass atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust. Hezbollah and other fanatic groups—like Hamas, supported, funded, armed and trained by Iran—have also either threatened or reportedly contributed to the bloodletting still underway.

More than 1,200 Israelis and other nationals have already been murdered, and some 150 taken hostage in the Gaza Strip, with thousands more injured and millions forced to seek cover from missile attacks and other threats. Hamas, using hostages as negotiating pawns and human shields—including babies, children, women and the elderly—has tortured innumerable victims and threatened to murder more as Israel proceeds with rescue operations and defensive strikes in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

The deliberate Palestinian war crimes—in turn endangering, and exploiting for cover, the Palestinian population itself—have already been exhaustively documented in gruesome detail.

In its extensive exchange with the secretary-general, B’nai B’rith pointed to Iran’s drive to prevent Middle East peace—including its advancing pursuit of nuclear capabilities—and the need for all hostages to be freed immediately. Iran and its proxies are openly sworn to Israel’s destruction.

Separately, in Washington, D.C., B’nai B’rith was represented on Wednesday at a White House meeting addressed by President Joe Biden, who has expressed unswerving commitment to Israel’s defense and to rightly denouncing the Hamas-led carnage as nothing short of evil.

Led by B’nai B’rith International President Seth J. Riklin and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin, the delegation at U.N. headquarters included Board of Directors member Stewart Cahn, U.N. Affairs Vice Chairman Jeffrey Harari, U.N. and Intercommunal Affairs Director David Michaels and Director of Data and Development Operations Richy Leitner.

The meeting was organized by B’nai B’rith’s Office of United Nations Affairs. The organization has led Jewish engagement with the world body since 1945.