2023-11-27 22:31:00
(CNN) — For more than six weeks, the conditions of the Israeli hostages captured by Hamas in Gaza were virtually unknown to the outside world.
But now testimonies from some of the hostages released by the extremist group in recent days are beginning to appear, giving an idea of their life in captivity after the brutal attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7.
Those who have spoken of their experiences describe how they lived with limited supplies, while bombs rained down on their heads. Some learned during their time as hostages that members of their family or friends had died the day of the Hamas assault, while others were left with no clues about their safety.
Adva Adar, whose 85-year-old grandmother Yafa was one of those freed in the first hostage exchange for Palestinian detainees, said her family “was asked to let (Yafa) share what she saw fit, and not to They asked a lot of questions so that she didn’t feel obligated (to answer) or so that it wasn’t too much for her.
Adva said her grandmother had lost weight during the ordeal, and other hostages have revealed that the captives had little food available.
Rice and bread
Freed hostages Keren Munder, her mother and her 9-year-old son endured days with barely any pita bread to eat during their captivity, her cousin Merav Mor Raviv told reporters Sunday.
Munder and his mother lost between six and eight kilograms of weight due to the lack of regular food, Mor Raviv said, adding: “They ate, but not regularly.”
Their diet in captivity included a lot of rice and bread, he added.
Following the attacks by the Israeli army and the ground offensive on Gaza, the enclave has been plunged into a humanitarian crisis. Most of the territory’s inhabitants have focused on the basics: finding shelter, fleeing the fighting and accessing food and water.
During the first three days of the truce, Hamas freed a total of 58 hostages, mainly women and children, and Israel freed 117 Palestinian prisoners.
A Red Cross convoy carrying Israeli and foreign hostages heads to Egypt from Gaza on Sunday. Credit: Fatima Shbair/AP
For some of them, conditions were manageable. Roongarun Wichanguen, sister of freed Thai hostage Vetoon Phoome, said Saturday that her brother appeared healthy after being freed by Hamas in a separate deal.
“He had a very happy face and seemed to be fine. He said he had not been tortured or assaulted and that he had been fed well,” he said in a video interview. “They took good care of him. He looked like he stayed in a house, not in the tunnel,” he added.
However, several hostages were admitted to hospitals with serious injuries or health problems.
Alma Avraham, 84, who was among the Israeli hostages freed from Gaza on Sunday, was admitted to the intensive care unit, Israel’s Soroka Medical Center said.
“She is in critical condition, she is (being) treated in the emergency department after suffering significant medical negligence during the last weeks while she was held by Hamas. She is currently in unstable condition and her life is in danger,” he declared on Sunday in a video by Dr. Shlomi Codish, CEO of Soroka Medical Center.
Another hostage, Adina Moshe, 72, endured “horrible” conditions while she was held captive, according to her nephew.
Moshe is “regaining strength” but is “a little weak” after spending more than seven weeks five stories underground, Eyal Nouri told CNN’s Brinna Golodryga on Monday.
“They ate only rice and some beans [una] can, which they tried to avoid [comer] so as not to have a stomach ache,” he said. “Not to mention that they didn’t have decent facilities, like a shower. “They didn’t shower in seven weeks.”
Frustrated escape attempt
Roni Kriboy, 25, was kidnapped at the Nova music festival on October 7. (Credit: Hostages and Missing Families Forum/AP)
Yelena Magid, aunt of the freed Russian-Israeli hostage Roni Kriboy, told the Israeli radio station Kan Reshet B on Monday about her nephew’s terrible experience in Gaza. Kriboy is the first adult Israeli male captured on October 7 released by Hamas; His release was not officially part of the hostage-for-detainee agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Magid said in a phone call that Kriboy, 25, had told her how he was held in a building that collapsed when it was bombed, and managed to escape, he told his aunt. But after hiding for a few days, he was captured and returned to Hamas captivity.
“He tried to reach the border. I think that since he had no means to understand his whereabouts and where to flee, he probably became a little disoriented there in the area. He was alone for four days,” Magid told the radio station.
Kriboy suffered a head injury in the building collapse, but is now fine, his aunt added.
Meanwhile, some hostages learned during their captivity that their loved ones had been killed on October 7.
Omri Almog, brother of an Israeli hostage who was freed Sunday along with two of her children, described Monday how his sister knew her husband and daughter had been killed.
“I am very happy to inform everyone that my sister Chen Goldstein-Almog and the three children Agam, Gal and Tal are back with us and (are) fine,” Almog said in a short video released by Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum.
“They knew all along that Nadav and Yam had been murdered in the house… they went to Gaza as hostages, kidnapped, with this idea,” he said. Chen Goldstein-Almog’s daughter, Yam, was 20 when she was murdered, while her husband, Nadav, was 48.
Another hostage, Hila Rotem Shoshani, 13, was released by Hamas on Saturday, but her mother, Raaya, remains detained.
Yair Rotem, Raaya’s brother, said they should both be released at the same time, telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Monday that there was “no reason to separate them.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claim that their separation violates the terms of the agreement.
IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN this weekend that when the IDF asked about Hila’s mother, Hamas said it did not know where she was, a claim Yair rejects.
“I urge all parties involved to pressure Hamas to respect the agreement,” Yair told Blitzer.
“We have to respect it, they have to respect it. Stop playing those games,” he added.
More than 40 of the hostages taken by Israel in Gaza on October 7 are not currently in the hands of Hamas, the group that launched the attack, a diplomatic source briefed on the negotiations told CNN on Monday.
This complicates the possibility of extending the duration of the truce, since the agreement requires that Hamas hand over the hostages in exchange for Palestinian detainees held by Israel, so Hamas must have the hostages to hand them over.
CNN previously reported that between 40 and 50 hostages were being held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad or other groups or individuals. That was before the hostage handover began on Friday.
— CNN’s Richard Greene, Radina Gigova, Michael Rosenblatt, Alex Stambaugh and Becky Anderson contributed to this report.
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