CNN –
For more than six weeks, the conditions under which the Israeli hostages captured by Hamas were held in Gaza were virtually unknown to the outside world.
But statements from some of the hostages the militant group released in recent days are now emerging, offering a glimpse into their lives in captivity following Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel on October 7.
Those who spoke about their experiences described living on limited supplies while bombs rained overhead. During their time as hostages, some knew that family members or friends had died on the day of the Hamas attack, while others had no indication of their safety.
Adva Adar, whose 85-year-old grandmother Yafa was among those released in the first hostage exchange for Palestinian prisoners, said her family “was asked to let (Yafa) share whatever she wanted to share and not ask for much.” . “Questions so that she doesn’t feel obligated (to answer) or that it doesn’t become too much for her.”
Adva said her grandmother lost weight during the ordeal and other hostages revealed there was little food available to the prisoners.
Rice and bread
Freed hostages Keren Munder, her mother and her 9-year-old son were forced to eat only flatbread for days during their captivity, their cousin Merav Mor Raviv told reporters on Sunday.
Munder and her mother both lost between six and eight kilograms of weight due to the lack of regular nutrition, Mor Raviv said, adding: “They ate, but not regularly.”
Their diet in captivity included lots of rice and bread, she added.
Following the Israeli military’s attacks and ground offensive on Gaza, the Gaza Strip has been gripped by a humanitarian crisis. Most people in the area have focused on the essentials: finding shelter, fleeing the fighting and getting access to food and water.
In the first three days of the ceasefire, Hamas released a total of 58 hostages, mostly women and children, and Israel released 117 Palestinian prisoners.
Fatima Shbair/AP
A Red Cross convoy carrying Israeli and foreign hostages travels from the Gaza Strip to Egypt on Sunday.
For some of them the conditions were manageable. Roongarun Wichanguen, the sister of released Thai hostage Vetoon Phoome, said on Saturday that her brother appeared to be healthy after being released by Hamas under a separate deal.
“His face was very happy and he seemed fine. He said he was not tortured or attacked and was given good food,” she said in a video interview. “He was very well looked after. “It looks like he just stayed in a house, not in the tunnel,” she added.
However, several hostages were hospitalized with serious injuries or health problems.
Alma Avraham, 84, who was among the Israeli hostages freed from Gaza on Sunday, was admitted to intensive care, Israel’s Soroka Medical Center said.
“She is in critical condition and is being treated in the emergency room after suffering significant medical neglect during her detention by Hamas in recent weeks. “She is currently in an unstable condition and her life is in danger,” said Dr. Shlomi Codish, executive director of Soroka Medical Center, said in a video statement on Sunday.
Another hostage, 72-year-old Adina Moshe, endured “horrific” conditions during her captivity, according to her nephew.
Moshe is “regaining strength” but is “a bit weak” after spending more than seven weeks five floors underground, Eyal Nouri told CNN’s Brinna Golodryga on Monday.
“They were fed only on rice and some beans [a] can do what they tried to avoid [eating] so as not to have a stomach ache,” he said. “Not to mention there were no decent facilities there [a] Shower. They didn’t shower for seven weeks.”
Yelena Magid, an aunt of freed Russian-Israeli hostage Roni Kriboy, told Israeli radio station Kan Reshet B on Monday about her nephew’s ordeal in Gaza. Kriboy is the first adult Israeli male captured and released by Hamas on October 7; His release was not officially part of the hostage-for-prisoner deal between Israel and Hamas.
Magid said in a phone call that Kriboy, 25, told her how he was trapped in a building that collapsed in a bombing and that he managed to escape, telling his aunt. But after hiding for a few days, he was caught and returned to Hamas captivity.
“He tried to reach the limit. I think he was probably a little disoriented in that area because he didn’t have the means to understand his whereabouts and where to escape to. He was alone for four days,” Magid told the radio station.
Kriboy suffered a head injury in the building collapse but is now doing well, his aunt added.
Meanwhile, some hostages knew during their captivity that relatives were killed on October 7.
Omri Almog, the brother of an Israeli hostage who was released Sunday along with two of her children, described Monday how his sister knew her husband and daughter had been slaughtered.
“I am very happy to announce to everyone that my sister Chen Goldstein-Almog and three children Agam, Gal and Tal are back with us and are feeling good and comfortable,” Almog said in a short video posted by the hostages was published and forum for families of missing persons.
“They knew all along that Nadav and Yam were murdered in the house… They went to Gaza as hostages with this idea and were kidnapped,” he said. Chen Goldstein-Almog’s daughter Yam was 20 when she was killed, while her husband Nadav was 48.
Another hostage, 13-year-old Hila Rotem Shoshani, was released by Hamas on Saturday, but her mother Raaya remains in custody.
Yair Rotem, Raaya’s brother, said the two should be released at the same time, telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Monday that “there is no reason to separate them.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said their separation violated the terms of the agreement.
IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told CNN this weekend that when the IDF asked about Hila’s mother, Hamas said it did not know where she was – a claim Yair denies.
“I call on everyone involved to put pressure on Hamas to respect the agreement,” Yair told Blitzer.
“We have to respect it, they have to respect it. Stop playing these games,” he added.
More than 40 of the hostages brought to Gaza from Israel on October 7 are not currently being held by Hamas, the group that launched the attack, a diplomatic source briefed on the negotiations told CNN on Monday.
This creates a complication in any possible extension of the ceasefire, as the agreement requires Hamas to hand over the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel – so Hamas must have the hostages to hand over.
CNN has previously reported that an estimated 40 to 50 of the hostages were held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad or other groups or individuals. That was before the handover of the hostages began on Friday.