After Hamas released the 20 remaining living hostages, new details about their time in captivity have begun to emerge.
By Rachel Avrahqam
After Hamas released the 20 remaining living hostages from captivity, new details are beginning to emerge regarding the horrific conditions in which the hostages were held. Boaz Miran, the brother of hostage Omri Miran, told Israel Hayom: “He told us that at first there were five hostages in a cage just 1.8 meters by 1.6 meters. You couldn’t stand up – you had to crouch. Gradually, they began taking people out until only he and one other hostage were left. There was also a period when he was bound for three weeks – not immediately after the abduction, but a bit later. We don’t know why. It had to do with the terrorists who were holding them. They kept changing – the locations, the people, everything.”
Tami Braslavski, whose son, Rom, was starved and tortured throughout his time in Gaza, has revealed his captors repeatedly tried to get him to convert to Islam, offering him extra food and better conditions if he read the Quran or fasted during Ramadan, the Jewish Chronicle reported. “They tried to tempt him with food and small gifts,” she said, adding: “He didn’t break down and didn’t do it.”
Rom’s mother has also shared further details of the physical torture he endured, saying: “Several times a day, they would beat him with a whip and with things that I will not even mention. He absorbed it.”
Yaron, the father of Avinatan Or, told Kan Radio: “He was handcuffed to the bars. It was a barred place, 1.8 meters [six feet] high, and the length of it was the length of the mattress, plus a little. You can call it a cage.” The father of Yosef-Haim Ohana, Rabbi Avi Ohana, shared similar testimony, telling Kan Moreshet radio: “[Their captors] put seven men in a pit… They could not sit, only lean against the wall while standing. He lacked oxygen. I thank God, who made him strong. What kept him going was his family.”
Avinatan Or was held alone, was cut off from the world and suffered from severe starvation. An initial medical examination found that he had lost between 30% and 40% of his body weight, the Times of Israel reported. Kidnapped brothers Gali and Ziv Berman were held separately and completely cut off from the outside world during their captivity, according to the network. While they were held in the same area, they were unaware that they would be reunited upon their release. According to the Kan public broadcaster, most of the hostages were taken to tunnels after the June 2024 rescue operation, and had limited exposure to media.
Matan Angrest’s family have revealed that at one point he was beaten so badly he lost consciousness, and spent two weeks chained to a gas cylinder, terrified to move, the Jewish Chronicle added. “He bears many injuries, some from October 7 and others from the two years that followed,” said his brother. In a separate interview, his mother revealed: “Many times they found themselves buried in dust under the rubble, trying to climb out and survive.” Like many of the hostages, Matan endured psychological as well as physical torture. “The terrorists constantly lied to him about his family,” his brother said. His mother told the Times of Israel that “he has flashbacks of a fire; he remembered his hands were burned, he remembers he lost consciousness,” she said, adding that her son also remembers being abused during his abduction.
“Matan has severe burns on the whole of his right hand. He has deformities in his fingers and other injuries, including to his eyesight. He said that he went through very severe torture, at least in the first few months,” Matan’s mother told Channel 12.
lan Gilboa, father of captivity survivor Guy Gilboa Dalal, shared new details about his son to Arutz Sheva. “We are slowly discovering the physical damage Guy is suffering as a result of the captivity,” Gilboa said. “He has infections in several areas of his body, hearing loss in one ear, stomach pain and vomiting, skin problems, and a vitamin deficiency. I believe these are reversible. The psychological team is helping him process what happened, and with time, love, and support from family and friends, he will recover.”
Eitan Horn, a freed hostage in his late 30s, lost about half his body weight and was forced to walk for about 12 hours through the tunnels beneath Gaza when his captors wanted to move him, his sister-in-law, Dalia Cusnir, said in an interview with the New York Times.
Photo from CNBC Television: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c4hBlssva0
