CNN —
An Israeli man who was held hostage by Hamas for 491 days has described how he was starved while in captivity and recalled the moment on his release from Gaza – when he found out his wife and daughters had been killed during the October 7, 2023 attacks.
Eli Sharabi was released earlier this month along with Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy as part of the Gaza ceasefire and hostages agreement between Israel and Hamas.
The 52-year-old Sharabi said his captors had not told him that his wife Lianne and daughters Noiya and Yahel were killed during the 2023 attack. Instead, he learned of their fate after his release.
In an emotional televised interview that aired Thursday on Israeli Channel 12’s “Uvda” program conducted by Israeli journalist Ilana Dayan, he recalled the moment he was taken by the Red Cross to an Israel Defense Forces post where psychologists and a family friend, a social worker, awaited. “I said, ‘Bring me my wife and the girls,’” Sharabi recalled. “She told me, ‘Osnat (his sister) and Mom are waiting for you.”
Choking back tears, Sharabi added: “It was clear that there’s no need to tell. Because at that moment, she had already told me. It’s clear that the worst has happened.”
“I really hope they didn’t feel pain in their last moments. That it happened fast and wasn’t painful. I hope they are in a good place,” he added, his voice breaking.
Sharabi also shed light on the plight of the remaining hostages, including his close friend Alon Ohel with whom he had shared a tunnel and formed an “unbreakable bond.”
Sharabi said hostages were given one meal a day – often a bowl of pasta or half a pita – totaling just 250-300 calories. “We’d cut the pita into four pieces and nibble one slice for 10 minutes, pretending it was enough,” Sharabi said, adding that he dreamed of his mother’s cooking. “You dream of opening a fridge … taking an egg, a vegetable, water. That’s freedom.”
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem told CNN on Friday that the group denies Sharabi’s allegations.
“We dealt with the prisoners in accordance with international law,” Qassem said, adding that Hamas had “provided them with food at a time when there was a famine in the Strip.”
The Channel 12 interview concluded with a plea from Sharabi: “People must understand – every hostage is someone’s child, parent, sibling. Don’t forget them.”
The ceasefire deal has seen the release of 38 hostages held by Hamas, five of whom were freed separately to the deal, as well as thousands of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel.
The first phase of the truce is set to end this weekend and negotiators are yet to agree on what comes next.