Released Israeli hostages share details of captivity, relatives say

A mother released from captivity in Gaza with her son told relatives that they had been sleeping on chairs pushed together. An 85-year-old grandmother from another family described counting the days to keep time.

On Sunday, two days after the first group of 13 hostages were released and returned to Israel, details began to emerge through conversations with family members about the nearly 50 days they and others released on Saturday as prisoners of armed groups in the Palestinian enclave. .

The released hostages have not spoken directly to the news media and most are still being treated in private areas of Israeli hospitals. Much of the information about where and how they were held remains classified.

Relatives who spoke to or met some of the released hostages said they all appeared to have spent their weeks in captivity, completely cut off from the outside world, and returned thinner than before.

“They were eating, but not regularly and not all the time,” said Merav Mor Raviv, a cousin of Keren Munder, 54, who was released Friday along with her son, Ohad Munder-Zichri, 9, and her mother. Ruth Munder, 78. “They ate a lot of rice and bread,” Ms. Raviv said, adding that Keren told her that both she and her mother had lost about 6 to 8 kilos, or 13 to 18 pounds.

Ms Raviv said the Munders had slept in a reception room on makeshift couches they made by pushing three chairs together, and that if they wanted to go to the bathroom they had to knock on a door and wait – sometimes for up to two hours . o’clock.

Adva Adar’s grandmother, Yaffa Adar, 85, was among the hostages released Friday. She noticed that her grandmother had lost weight and knew that she had retained it for almost fifty days because she had been keeping count.

Ms. Raviv and Adva Adar spoke to reporters on Sunday via a video call organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a non-governmental group set up to support the hostages and their families, and Media Central, an Israeli nonprofit that provides services to journalists. .

As an indication of how isolated the hostages were, Ms. Raviv said, Ruth Munder only learned after her release that her son, Roi, had been killed in the Oct. 7 attack.

But the Munders also received better news. Ms Raviv said Ruth assumed her husband, Avraham Munder, had been killed in the attacks, but was told after her release that he had survived and had been taken separately to Gaza.

Ms. Raviv said the Munders “had no idea” of the public campaign for their release and the fact that their faces and names are now known throughout Israel.

The uncle of two hostages released late Saturday – Noam Or, 17, and his sister Alma, 13 – told the BBC Sunday that they too were unaware until their release that their mother, Yonat Or, had been killed in the October 7 terrorist attacks.

“They have some difficult stories to tell about the way they were captured and treated,” Ahal Besorai said of his nephew and niece. He said he spoke to them on a video call at the hospital where they are staying.

The Or siblings were taken hostage along with their father, Dror, who is believed to still be held in Gaza. Mr Besorai said Noam and Or were being held separately from their father.