Helzliya, Israel (AP) – Eli Sharabi survived in a moldy pita with 16 months in a dirty tunnel under the Gaza Strip, chaining his legs. Two years later Hamas attacks began a war in Gazahe fears fellow hostages who have come to think their adoption is getting worse.
Israel attacked the enemy throughout the region and disposed of it in Gaza. However, they have yet to return the last 48 hostages taken in the attack to mark another tough war memorial on Tuesday. a New US-supported peace plan They raised hopes to bring them home.
Sharabi, 53, was released in February. He finds out that on October 7, 2023, his wife and two teenage daughters were killed at home by Hamas-led extremists, he says, the return of all hostages, including the body of his brother and brother Yoshi, says.
Hunger, humiliation, violence
Sharabi I documented his experiences as “hospitals.” The book was published in Hebrew earlier this year. An English translation of the first memoir by the former hostage will be available on Tuesday.
In the book, Sharabi explains how he was primarily restrained in dark tunnels raw with insects and mice. He and three fellow hostages are allowed to wash every few months, and at one point an angry guard defeats him, breaking some ribs.
They only surfaced when they were moved from one tunnel to another through the streets of Kurabu.
“The most difficult thing was, of course, starving,” Sharabi said in an interview with the Associated Press. “It’s something you can’t really imagine, how hungry you can be.”
As Gaza’s humanitarian crisis worsened, hostages have now started eating two meals a day to one meal. Usually, it is a moldy pita bread. Sharabi said his prisoner ate “like a king.”
He weighs only 44 kilograms (97 pounds) When he was released. US President Donald Trump said he and two other hostages “appeared like Holocaust survivors” who were released along with him.
Survival comes from small victory
Hamas-led militants killed a total of 1,200 people in the attack on October 7th and lured 251 people. Most are released in ceasefires and other deals.
Israel’s retaliatory attack in Gaza was killed Over 67,000 peopleDestroying vast areas of the strip, expelling about 90% of its population of around 2 million, causing humanitarian catastrophe, experts say Gaza City I’m experiencing hunger.
The last memory of Sharabi in his family was the pure expression of horror in their eyes as he was dragged out of his house in Kibbutzbeeri. While being taken prisoner, before he knew they would be killed, he decided to move his family far from Kibbutz, perhaps to the UK where his wife was originally from. He returned to Kibbutz only once and visited outside his house.
He knows that at some point he needs to walk home as part of the rehabilitation process. He needs to see the blood stains himself, Bullets and crushed windows were sprayed on the walls.. However, he said he wasn’t ready to go inside yet.
The kibbutz was devastated in the attack on October 7th, suffering the loss of life in every town, killing 106 Kibbutz residents and acquiring 30 people. The house was burned and firedamidst the chaos of the Israeli army.
For the first few weeks, Sharabi was held in an apartment where he was able to communicate mostly in English, Hebrew or Arabic with the tempted Thai farm workers. After a weeklong ceasefire collapsed in November 2023, he moved to a tunnel and was detained along with three Israelis Photo taken from the music festival.
Almost twice the age of the other hostages, Sharabi took on the role of her father figure.
He helped them create exercise programs to keep their bodies moving despite the chains of their legs. Every day they tried to share the good things that happened – they didn’t get a little more food or see particularly violent security guards.
By October 7th, the men were not religious, but they regularly prayed together as they were in captivity. On Friday night, one of them grabbed a glass of water and recited a traditional Sabbath blessing made from wine. In many cases, there were tears between those prayers.
“You’re trying to find light and special moments because you understand that, at every moment, if they decide to do it, they can kill you,” he said. “Survival is built from many small victories.”
All for Aron
After his release, Sharabi joined a campaign to seek the return of the remaining hostages. He wrote a book and met with Trump. Addressed to the UN Security Council.
His enthusiastic activities are driven primarily by his fears about 24-year-old Aron O’Haru, and are still being held in Gaza as Israel Repeat another big attack.
In January, Hamas prisoners told Sharabi and others that the three would be released after part of the ceasefire agreed to that month. Ohel, a sensitive and talented piano player, had a panic attack when he realized he was left behind, Sharabi said.
“We thought it was the happiest message we could ever get. “The day I left him was one of my toughest days in captivity.”
The next time he watched Ohel, the hostage video released last month, Gaunt and Pale.
Sharabi hopes that the harsh prose of his book will take his readers to the tunnel. He wants Israeli Hawkish Leaderand others with power and influence end the war and bring prisoners home.
He wants Ohel to know that his loved ones are “fighting like lions” for his release.
“I’m sure you have the strength to survive in captivity and survive this hell,” Sharabi said. “Then one day you’re with us, and we do everything we promised each other.”
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