A freed Israeli hostage has described how ropes that tied his hands together “tore into flesh”, and said he suffered “impossible” hunger while in Hamas captivity.
Eli Sharabi, 53, was released by Hamas on 8 February after being taken hostage from his home in Kibbutz Be’eri during the 7 October 2023 attack.
Images of Mr Sharabi after his release from Gaza show him looking gaunt and weak, which shocked and angered Israel.
As Mr Sharabi was paraded on stage by Hamas before his release, he said he was looking forward to being reunited with his British wife Lianne and teenage daughters Noiya and Yahel – but only found out they were killed on 7 October after he reached Israel.
Mr Sharabi lost more than 30kg (66lbs) while held hostage and received one bowl of pasta a day, he told Israeli TV’s Channel 12.
“[It was] a tenth of what I need. If it happens for a day or two it is not that terrible [but] that’s the amount we ate for six months, every day. When you ask for something more, and suddenly someone throws you a dry date, it seems like the best meal in the world to you,” he said.
“You feel your gut stuck to your spine, but you can see your gut actually go inward at some point, and you can’t believe that’s what’s happening to your body.”
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Mr Sharabi was held in ropes and iron chains and sometimes beaten or humiliated by Hamas militants during his captivity, he said.
“During the first three days, my hands are tied behind my back, my legs are tied, with ropes that tear into your flesh.
“I remember not being able to fall asleep because of the pain. The ropes are already digging into your flesh, and every movement makes you want to scream.
“Your hands are also tied behind your back, so your shoulders really, really hurt – and no position is good enough.
“There are moments you just pass out, lose consciousness. You wake up after two or three hours and the pain continues.”
Mr Sharabi said he decided to speak out about his 16 months in Gaza because “we really must not leave anyone behind”.
“I remember every minute in the tunnel, how we would say, ‘maybe today, maybe today’. A kid I met 14 months ago, after 50 days in Gaza, is still there,” he said, referring to 24-year-old Alon Ohel, whom he became close with in captivity.
“The day I leave, the terrorists tear me away from him. He just refuses to let go, he held on to me. It was a very tough moment.”
“He said he was happy for me. I promised him I wouldn’t leave him there, that I’d fight for him.”
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A ceasefire, which was brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 months of violence in Gaza after Hamas’ 7 October attack that killed some 1,200 people in Israel. The militants took about 250 people hostage.
Israel’s military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza’s population and destroyed the territory’s infrastructure and health system.
The Hamas-run health ministry does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths, but it says that over half of the dead have been women and children.
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Hamas has returned 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners as part of a ceasefire in Gaza.
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas on the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire began on Thursday, Egypt said, averting a collapse ahead of Saturday’s expiration of the agreement’s first phase.
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Talks on the second phase are meant to negotiate an end to the war, including the return of all remaining living hostages in Gaza, and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from the territory.
The return of remaining deceased hostages would happen in the third phase.
