UN chief refers situation in Gaza to UN Security Council, invoking Article 99 for first time in his tenure

Leaked audio recordings of Tuesday's meeting between freed Israeli hostages, relatives of some still being held and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reveals considerable anger at the government’s conduct, as well as the enduring terror of captivity by Hamas in Gaza. Some of the leaked audio was published on Israeli website ynet.

It comes amid building pressure on Netanyahu to secure the release of the remaining captives, and scrutiny of Israel’s intensifying military campaign in Gaza.

A female abductee freed with her children — but without her husband, who remains in captivity — said she was in a "hiding place that was shelled and we had to be smuggled out and we were wounded. That’s besides the helicopter that shot at us on the way to Gaza."

“You have no information. You have no information," she added. "The fact that we were shelled, the fact that no one knew anything about where we were. … You claim that there is intelligence. But the fact is that we are being shelled. My husband was separated from us three days before we returned to Israel and taken to the (Hamas) tunnels” under Gaza.

"You want to topple the Hamas government, to show that you have bigger balls? There is no life here that is more important than others. None of us there deserve any less treatment than any resident of Israel. Return them all and not in a month, two months or a year," she said. 

According to the ynet account of the meeting, one man related what his family members had told him after being freed.

“They were under constant threat from the IDF shelling. You sat in front of us and assured us that it does not threaten their lives. They also roam the street and (are) not only in the tunnels. They are mounted on donkeys and carts. You will not be able to recognize them on the street and you are endangering their lives. It is our duty to return them now," he said, according to ynet.

Another woman who had been a hostage said those remaining in captivity were living “on borrowed time. All day, they lie on a mattresses, most of them need glasses and hearing aids that were taken from them when they were kidnapped, they have difficulty seeing and hearing, which affects their functioning even more,” the woman said, according to the audio released.

She issued an appeal to Israel's war cabinet to release all Palestinian prisoners and bring back the hostages. "Release them all and bring them back. They live on borrowed time. Their lives are in your hands,” she said.

At one point, some of the people present in the meeting heckled at Netanyahu and others from the war cabinet by saying "shame."

What Netanyahu said, according to the report: Comments at the meeting by Netanyahu have not been released but were reported by ynet. CNN cannot verify they are accurate.

According to ynet, Netanyahu said it was only when Israel launched its ground operations when the pressure was built on Hamas to release hostages. When Netanyahu said Hamas was to blame for the end of the truce, an individual identified by ynet as a family member of a released hostage replied, "Nonsense."

Netanyahu responded: "No bulls***. What I'm saying here are clear facts. I respect you too much. I heard your heartbreak. We couldn't release everyone at once. The price they want is not prisoners. The price they want is not only the prisoners.”

Netanyahu’s office declined to comment on the leaked recordings.

Read more about the tense meeting between Israeli officials and hostages.