It’s a time of mixed emotions in . The bodies of 28 dead hostages have still not all been returned by . At the same time, there is joy about the who had been held captive in for two years. Yet the first accounts of their time in captivity are harrowing.
Since the went into effect and the hostages have been released, TV and radio stations across Israel have been broadcasting non-stop interviews with the relatives of hostages, who have described the since their capture on October 7, 2023. The Hamas-led attack on southern Israel triggered a devastating war in Gaza.
Some of the men have described being held underground in tunnels for a long time, with no access to sunlight or fresh air. Others talked about being beaten and tortured, and sometimes not receiving enough food. Some were able to play cards with their captors despite the dangerous conditions in which they were held. Their accounts cannot be independently verified.
Captured twin brothers reunited after two years
According to reports in the Israeli media, twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman, who were taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza near the Gaza border, were held separately in different locations and only reunited on Monday, the day they were released.
According to the reports, they were completely cut off from the outside world, whereas others were aware of the .
One hostage ‘beaten so badly that he lost consciousness’
One of the protesters was Anat Angrest, mother of captured soldier Matan Angrest, who campaigned relentlessly for her son’s release. She says her son endured particularly harrowing conditions in captivity, likely because he was an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier.
“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,” she told Israeli TV channel 12.
Matan Angrest, now 22 years old, was captured as an IDF soldier from a tank unit stationed along the Gaza border on October 7.
“During the kidnapping, he remembers being abused,” his mother said. “He remembers being beaten so badly that he lost consciousness. He remembers being covered in black bags and dragged and abused and interrogated. He went through a lot.”
Her son also told her that he was held mostly in , and that Israeli attacks close by made the walls of the tunnels collapse at some point.
Hostages were moved around Gaza dozens of times
Omri Miran, 48, a father of two young girls, was taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz. His father, Dani Miran, told Israel media that his was son was able to play cards with his captors.
“He played a lot of cards with them, all morning until their prayer. And he would wait to start a new day of cards, that kept him going,” Dani Miran said.
Omri’s brother said that Omri had been moved to more than 20 different locations in Gaza under extremely dangerous conditions and the heavy bombardment by the Israeli air force. According to Gaza’s local health authorities, more than 67,000 Palestinians were killed in the war, most of whom were civilians. The number is considered reliable by international organizations. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble.
Two years in the tunnels under Gaza
Another harrowing account came from the father of Avinatan Or, who said his son was mostly held in tunnels for two years.
“For all two years he was in the tunnel. After his escape attempt, he was beaten and the conditions of his imprisonment worsened and he was put in a sort of cage inside a tunnel. It’s a miracle that he remained sane,” Yaron Or told Israel’s national radio KAN.
“He was locked in a kind of cage the length and width of a mattress and 1.80 meters high. Avinatan is almost two meters tall. He was handcuffed to the bars for over a year,” his father said.
Footage of Avinatan Or’s abduction was captured and published by Hamas after October 7. Or and his girlfriend, Noa Argamani, were at the Nova music festival when the attack led by Hamas occurred. She was driven away by Hamas militants, while Or was forced to walk away at gunpoint.
Argamani was freed in a special Israeli operation in June 2024, which involved massive airstrikes in the area, killing dozens of Palestinians.
Hostages’ living conditions were dependent on political negotiations
Some hostages have said that their conditions changed in recent weeks, apparently in relation to the ceasefire talks. Previously released hostages have said that, depending on political developments, their conditions changed for better or worse.
All twenty are now in hospitals in and around Tel Aviv and face a long road to recovery.
Edited by: Carla Bleiker
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