For the first time in two years since the October 7, 2023 attack, the Israeli nation can finally breathe again now that all 20 living hostages who languished in Hamas captivity are home.
But with every day that passes, more horror stories come to light about the conditions the captives experienced while trapped in tents and underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip.
As the former hostages give testimony to their family and medical professionals, details are emerging of them being starved to near-death, psychologically tortured, and kept in total isolation.
Others were beaten, suffocated with bags over their heads, and force-fed to the point of sickness, as militants rushed to conceal the disturbing sight of ribs protruding through dulled skin.
The world witnessed the terrifying moment Avinatan Or, 32, was torn away from his girlfriend Noa Argamani, 28, by Hamas militants at the Supernova festival.
She was whisked away on a motorbike, crushed in between the bodies of two terrorists, as she screamed with her arm outstretched for Avinatan to save her.
He was powerless to intervene, however, having been captured by a group of gunmen who marched him towards the Gaza border.
It was the last time the young couple would see each other for 738 days, during which Avinatan was subjected a systematic programme of hunger, isolation and physical abuse.
In new details revealed by his father, it is now known that Avinatan, who is 6ft 5in, was chained inside a cage for more than a year of his captivity, in an enclosure just 6ft high – only slightly longer than the thin mattress he slept on.
Before that, he was held in a cell behind bars, so small he was unable to move freely.
Initial medical examinations suggest he lost between 30 and 40 per cent of his bodyweight as he was held in near-total isolation for two years, not meeting another kidnapped person until he was released on Monday.
‘He’s extremely thin,’ Or’s father, Yaron Or, told Israel’s Kan Reshet Bet radio on Wednesday morning.
‘Around him were guards whose relatives had been killed in IDF strikes, and I think it’s simply a miracle that they didn’t harm him, except for one time when he tried to escape.’
Avinatan attempted to flee from his captors while he was being moved through a tunnel.
After the escape attempt, Hamas guards worsened his conditions and beat him as punishment.
‘He’s sharing things gradually – we’re not asking directly,’ his father said.
The 32-year-old wasn’t given an opportunity to have any contact with the other hostages throughout his captivity.
‘No books, no human contact – nothing,’ Yaron said. ‘At some point, he got a Rubik’s Cube, and that was the only thing he had. I don’t know how he came out sane from this. It’s a miracle.’
His captors fed him lies as a form of psychological torment.
They told him Noa had been released, even though at the time she was still in captivity.
‘He knew there was a war, and he thought it should be ended even at the expense of the hostages,’ Avinatan’s father said.
‘He didn’t know the full scale of October 7 – only that they invaded Israel. He told the prime minister that he thought he’d be held for years, until the war ended, and that this was what needed to happen. He’s a unique person.’
Yaron added that physically, his son still needed time to recover, but mentally, ‘thank God, he’s still the same Avinatan – same humour, same strength.’
Upon his release, his first request was to spend time alone with Noa, who was rescued in a military operation in June last year, as the two shared what they described as their ‘first cigarette together after two years’.
In a touching social media post on Tuesday, accompanied by a photo of the couple inside an army helicopter, Noa wrote: ‘Both of us, against all odds, came home and were reunited!
‘I cannot put into words the range of emotions I felt when I saw him for the first time after so long. Each of us faced death countless times, and yet, after two years apart, we are finally taking our first steps together again.’
In a video message addressed to his friends amid recovery, a depleted but joyful Avinatan made light out of how he had been barred from communication with the outside world for two years.
‘Wait, is this recording now? I don’t even know what this technology is – I’ve been disconnected for two years,’ he said with a smile in a short video clip.
‘My dear friends, I’m so happy to see you. I saw all of you today down there through the van – it’s crazy. We’ll meet very soon, I believe. I’m fine, just tired and exhausted, but soon we’ll catch up on everything. I can’t wait to see you. I love you all, and I heard you did so much for me.’
Avinatan was released on Monday alongside 19 other living hostages as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s historic Israel-Hamas peace deal.
Another freed hostage, Elkana Bohbot, 36, is understood to have spent most of the two years he was held by Hamas chained up in a dark and dingy tunnel where he lost all sense of time.
Channel 12 reported that he was somehow able to remember his wedding anniversary and insisted to his captors that he be allowed to shower on that day.
Though the guards who were holding him initially refused, they relented and allowed him to clean himself.
He was reportedly made to feel sick after Hamas militants force-fed him with food before freeing him, because they didn’t want him to look malnourished in front of the world.
Matan Angrest, a now-22-year-old soldier who was captured from his tank in southern Israel, experienced ‘very severe torture’ during his first few months as a hostage, according to his mother Anat.
She told local media that he ‘remembers being beaten so badly that he lost consciousness’.
He reportedly underwent surgery on his hand without anesthesia in the Strip.
His mother said he was the victim of sinister psychological games, with Hamas militants telling him that Israelis has given up on him and terrorists were planning on conquering Israel with another October 7 attack.
A spokesperson from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum told the Daily Mail:
‘Following the return of the last 20 live hostages on Monday, devastating testimonies are emerging – of people being caged, chained, starved, and having bags placed over their heads for extended periods.
‘Every new account reveals yet another layer of deliberate psychological; and physical cruelty.
‘Hamas used systematic torture and psychological terror as weapons of war to dehumanise, humiliate, and destroy.
‘Today, we know that the remaining hostages still held in Gaza are no longer alive. For their families, the nightmare is far from over – many fear their loved ones’ bodies may be lost forever in Gaza.
‘The world must confront the full horror of Hamas’ actions and stand with the families to demand the return the body of every last hostage, so they can finally be laid to rest in Israel, with dignity, and provide closure for the families.’
The Israel-Hamas war began when Palestinian militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 taken hostage.
In Israel’s ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the dead were women and children
