Ohad Ben-Ami, Eli Sharabi, and Or Levy were released after suffering 491 days in Hamas captivity, returning to Israel completely famished and appearing gaunt.
By Rachel Avraham
Ohad Ben-Ami, Eli Sharabi, and Or Levy were released after suffering 491 days in Hamas captivity, returning to Israel completely famished after suffering from torture, neglect, poor hygiene, lack of sunlight, and prolonged starvation. Up on the Hamas podium, they appeared frail and were barely able to stand up, and got the support of Hamas terrorists in walking over to the Red Cross.
Israel Hayom reported that for most of their captivity, they were given very little food and even when they did receive meals, the nutrition provided was insufficient to meet their bodily needs, leading to extreme weight loss. They were kept in underground tunnels without exposure to daylight. They stated that they had no way of knowing whether it was summer or winter outside. The hostages recounted that in the days leading up to their release, they were given slightly more food in an apparent attempt to create the illusion that their captivity conditions had been adequate.
The hostages released today appeared similar to survivors of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. According to the Jerusalem Post, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and Sheba Medical Center revealed that the former hostages were in serious condition. According to the report, they may have lost some 30% of their overall weight.
Eli Sharabi and Or Levy were held in a tunnel during their entire period of captivity, with no exposure to the media, and did not know anything about the October 7th massacre, Arutz Sheva reported. According to the report, Sharabi received the difficult news that his wife, Leanne, and daughters Noya (16) and Yahel (13) were murdered in the October 7 massacre. Eli was also informed that his brother Yossi, who was also kidnapped to Gaza, was killed in captivity.
Kibbutz Be’eri told the Jerusalem Post: “Eli is returning from an impossible reality in captivity to a very difficult reality in Israel. A reality in which those dearest to him are no longer alive. On October 7, Eli lost his daughters, Noya and Yahel, and his wife, Leanne, who were murdered in their house in Be’eri in the terrible massacre. His brother, the late Yossi Sharabi, was murdered in captivity, and his body is still being held in Gaza. We will embrace him and give him the best possible support.”
Levy also lost his wife Einav in the October 7 massacre and like Sharabi was not aware of her death, but was reunited with his three-year-old son Almog. Since October 7, Almog was waiting to be reunited with his father. The child told his father upon his release from Hamas captivity: “Dad, it took you a long time to come back.”
Yet, despite the difficult images of the Israeli hostages that came out of Gaza, where is the international outrage? Why is the world not up in arms over the heart-wrenching images that we all witnessed? The international community is silent. Neither the United Nations or the International Red Cross have anything to say about the matter. Human Rights Watch condemned President Trump for seeking to ethnically cleanse Gaza, but had nothing to say about the plight of the Israeli hostages recently released.
Amnesty International has not yet issued any condemnation for the condition in which these three Israeli hostages were held by Hamas. All they have stated so far is the following: “The long overdue release of Palestinian aid worker and prisoner of conscience, Mohammed al-Halabi, as part of the prisoner-hostage exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, brings to an end his agonizing ordeal and a flagrant miscarriage of justice, said Amnesty International today, reiterating calls for the immediate release of all civilian hostages in Gaza and Palestinians arbitrarily detained in Israel.” They called him a prisoner of conscience, even though he funneled money to Hamas and had nothing to say about the Israelis held hostage by Hamas appearing gaunt.
Even worse, CNN compared the “three male Israeli hostages and 183 Palestinian prisoners,” as if imprisoning terrorists was one and the same as holding abducted citizens hostage. CNN even falsely claimed regarding the Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel: “Israel freed 183 Palestinians Saturday. Some of the released prisoners were brought from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank to Ramallah, where video of their release showed some detainees weak and thin, with one man appearing so frail that he needed to be carried. Recently released Palestinian prisoners have returned from Israeli detention with signs of physical abuse and starvation, and have alleged abuse and torture.”
The Washington Post engaged in similar propaganda: “Eleven of the Palestinians released Saturday had to be immediately transferred to hospitals, Hamas said, underscoring what the group called “systematic abuse” in Israeli detention facilities. Many Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli custody under the ceasefire have appeared malnourished. Rights groups say harsh treatment and abuse of Palestinians in Israeli prisons are rampant.”
The BBC was no better: “Returning Palestinian prisoners were greeted with scenes of celebration at Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Representatives claimed they all needed “medical care”, without giving specifics.” However, France 24 coverage of the hostage release was a bit better. Although they called the Palestinian terrorists detainees and not terrorists, they acknowledged that many of them were serving life sentences for murdering people and did not lie and say that they appeared gaunt exactly like the Israeli hostages.
France 24 deserves to be commended for telling the truth in a global atmosphere that seeks to sweep the truth under the carpet. The Palestinian terrorists, unlike the Israeli hostages, underwent a judicial process, got Red Cross visits, family visits, proper food and water, books, TV and even the right to pursue advanced university degrees. In fact, the conditions are so good in Israeli prisons that some of the terrorists that were slated to be deported to Gaza actually preferred to stay in an Israeli prison over living in a war torn enclave like Gaza. However, these facts were not reported by CNN, the Washington Post and the BBC, nor Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Not only were these facts not reported, but the world refuses to express sympathy and moral outrage for three poor men who underwent conditions that were not much better than Auschwitz. The conditions in which they returned should raise alarm bells regarding the conditions in which the rest of the hostages are presently being held and the urgency of getting them released as soon as possible. It should spark global protests on university campuses, but the same students who were willing to protest against the war in Gaza got nothing to say about three poor men being starved to the brink of death. What an utter outrage!
