Several Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas (Photo: Times Of Israel).
The outside world had little idea of the conditions under which Hamas held Israeli and foreign hostages in the Gaza Strip until this was gradually revealed through the accounts of the newly released.
Such stories have appeared in the international media in recent days, providing a clearer view of their lives while detained in the Gaza Strip for more than 50 days.
There are stories of hardship living on limited supplies as bombs rain down on Gaza, of plastic chairs used as sleeping quarters or sleeping on the floor, of inadequate meals, and of waiting hours for a toilet.
At least one man attempted to escape from captivity when the building where he was being held collapsed following an Israeli airstrike, as did the story of a captured boy who kept a diary of the horrific experience.
However, much of the information about where and how the hostages were held remains unclear.
The silence is eerie.
For the families of the hostages, seven long weeks without news of their loved ones was heartbreaking. Now, as some are reunited, there are new challenges to overcome and invisible wounds to heal.
Most of those freed are being treated in hospital, away from the media spotlight, as a shocked Israel searches for answers as to why such incidents happened.
On November 27, Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the ceasefire for two more days, an agreement brokered by Qatar and Egypt that will allow for more hostage exchanges in exchange for Palestinian women and teenagers in Israeli prisons. Accordingly, 11 Israeli citizens and 33 Palestinians will be freed.
Psychologists have warned of the dangers of forcing newly released prisoners to reveal information, fearing the risk of re-traumatisation.
“Some of them decided to stay in the hospital for a long time to recover psychologically,” Itai Pessach, director of the Safra Children’s Hospital at Sheba Medical Center, said on November 27. “They also faced very difficult, painful and complicated stories of their captivity. Despite their optimistic appearance, the time in captivity was difficult and complicated, and the wounds will take time to heal.”
In an online press conference on November 26, the families of some of the freed Israeli hostages said their loved ones still do not fully understand the magnitude of their kidnapping's impact on the country and the world.
"They don't know where they are"
Adva, granddaughter of 85-year-old Yaffa Adar, said she counted the days of her grandmother's more than 50 days in captivity and never lost hope that she would return to Israel. "I am very proud to be her granddaughter," she said.
Relatives said Adar and Keren Munder, 54, returned much thinner than before. "They were fed, but not regularly and not all the time," said Munder's cousin, Merav Mor Raviv.
Munder and her mother, Ruth, 78, had lost 15 to 18 pounds, Raviv said. They slept on rows of three chairs strapped together, like the couches in a waiting room, and had to knock on the door to attract their captors’ attention when they needed to use the bathroom. Sometimes they had to wait hours, they said.
Image from video released by Hamas about the hostage release (Photo: Hamas).
Despite their ordeal, most of the returnees are happy and in good physical condition. Eyal Nouri, the nephew of 72-year-old Adina Moshe, who was released on November 24, said his aunt “had to re-adapt to sunlight” because “she was in total darkness” for weeks, the Times of Israel reported.
In the early days of the hostage-taking, relatives located some of the hostages using their smartwatches or iPhones. Their whereabouts have since been kept secret, although Hamas has said the hostages are being held in the group's vast network of tunnels that run beneath the Gaza Strip.
In an interview with Israel's Channel 12, Raviv said her family members were detained both above and below ground, sometimes facing armed Hamas members. "They didn't know where they were, people were always watching them." She added that some of them spoke Hebrew.
Munder’s 9-year-old son, Ohad, spent his birthday in captivity. After the reunion, one of them told Israel’s Walla News that he had kept a diary while in captivity but had ended up leaving it in Gaza. His mother feared that the diary could endanger her son.
Family accounts show the hostages were isolated and cut off from the outside world. Some did not know the fate of their loved ones. In an interview with Kan public radio, Elena Magid, the aunt of Israeli-Russian hostage Roni Krivoi, who was released on November 26, said the 25-year-old man had managed to escape at one point amid an airstrike and fierce fighting.
"He managed to escape after the building collapsed and was alone for a few days. But eventually, Gazans found him and took him to Hamas," the aunt said.
Nine-year-old Ohad Munder and other hostages are taken to a hospital in Israel after being released by Hamas on November 25 (Photo: AFP).
It is unclear how many hostages are still alive.
According to sources, it is not yet clear how many people are still alive.
Hamas members said several hostages were killed in Israeli airstrikes. One hostage, a young woman, was seen on crutches in a video released by Hamas on November 25 showing the hostage handover. She grimaced as she got into a Red Cross vehicle. On November 27, television footage showed Yuval Engel, 11, leaving Gaza in a wheelchair.
At a press conference on November 27, the family of Elma Avraham - who was released a day earlier - said the 84-year-old needed urgent medical care. "My mother was severely neglected. She was not given any medicine," said Tali, Avraham's daughter. She criticized the Israeli government and the International Committee of the Red Cross, "it seems like my mother was abandoned twice, once on October 7, and again by all the organizations that were supposed to help her."
In addition to the nearly 70 who have been released, more than 150 are believed to still be held. Families who have been reunited say they will not rest until others are returned home. “The war is not over, we need each of you to continue, to help us, to share your stories and to call for everything to be done for them to return because each of them has a family that needs to be reunited,” said Adva Adar.
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