From Tel Aviv.- The reunions, the hugs, the shouts of happiness, but also the novelty of seeing the sunlight for the first time in more than two years, the friendly smile of a stranger, the possibility of deciding about one's own body... For the 20 Israeli hostages that Hamas kept alive in Gaza, the return is a shock.
Hours after their releases, the first accounts began to emerge about the dramatic conditions they faced during their 738-day captivity. All the accounts describe an environment marked by torture, isolation, and psychological manipulation, where hunger and fear completely took over their lives.
The physical conditions they were subjected to were devastating. Avinatan Or was held completely alone for 738 days, more than two years, with no contact with other hostages until his release. During that time, he was held in central Gaza under extreme circumstances, including long periods of starvation: he lost between 30% and 40% of his body weight, according to initial medical examinations.
Others, like Colombian-Israeli Elkana Bohbot, spent most of their time chained in underground tunnels, losing all sense of time and space. Images of those returned show arms injured by the chains. Despite the hardships, Bohbot managed to remember her wedding date and asked her captors to let her shower in honor of the anniversary.
Twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman were kidnapped together on October 7, but Hamas militants kept them separated throughout their captivity. They were in the same area, but didn't know it. They also had no information about each other, which was further torture.
They met for the first time at the Israeli military base in Re'im, after the liberation. The embrace, which was seen on screens at Hostage Plaza in Tel Aviv, generated applause and much emotion among the hundreds of people still there.
Both told their families that during their captivity they experienced both periods of extreme food shortages and times when they received a little more food.
In the case of Guy Gilboa-Dalal, his father explained that his son was force-fed for the past month, after the release of a propaganda video of another hostage being starved to death sparked international outrage.
Isolation was a constant for many of the kidnapped people. According to his mother, Matan Angrest spent long periods under special surveillance and in solitude, subjected to severe torture during the first few months because of his status as a soldier.
The isolation was not only physical but also informational: most of the hostages received little news from outside and were unaware of developments in Israel, including rescue operations or the situation of their families.
Psychological manipulation was part of the captors' strategy. The hostages received direct threats, including having guns placed on their heads if they didn't cooperate during the filming of propaganda videos. Some were lied to about the situation in Israel, told that the country had abandoned them or that their relatives had died.
Matan Angrest, for example, was told that his maternal grandparents, Holocaust survivors, had died. He only learned they were still alive after he was released.
Furthermore, the kidnappers played with the hostages' expectations, promising them release on several occasions. Guy Gilboa-Dalal was made to prepare for fictitious releases on three occasions just to enjoy his suffering.
Some hostages experienced brief moments of less tense coexistence with their captors. Omri Miran, who was held in 23 different locations in Gaza, both aboveground and in tunnels, even cooked for his captors, who appreciated his food.
His brother recounted that Miran kept an exact record of their days in captivity and that, on occasion, the hostages participated in card games with their captors, who included them when they needed an extra player. These episodes, although rare, offered small respites from the anguish.
The return to freedom had a huge physical and emotional impact on the freed prisoners. After his release, Or asked to spend time alone with his partner, Noa Argamani, also a former hostage, and the two shared their first cigarette together in two years.
Matan Angrest, according to his mother, did not remember many details of the exact moment of his kidnapping, but he did remember the previous fights and the deaths of his friends, as well as episodes of abuse and burns on his hands.
Regain control
Psychologist Einat Kauffman, who treated many survivors of the October 7 massacre, explained to Infobae that the first priority when abductees return is to restore the freed survivors' sense of autonomy over their daily actions."The first thing we do know is that we have to give the survivors the feeling of control over their lives," she notes. During captivity, even the simplest gestures—such as deciding when to speak, laugh, eat, or go to the bathroom—were subject to the will of others. Upon returning, many of those freed show doubts about whether they can perform basic actions without asking permission, which is reflected in their body language and in their constant search for approval before acting.
The lack of clear protocols for treating civilians who have spent so much time deprived of their liberty represents a gap in clinical practice. Kauffman acknowledges that while guidelines exist for addressing trauma resulting from accidents or assaults, the case of civilian captives is a work in progress: “We have simple case protocols. If a person is injured in an accident, if they were raped, we know how to treat those things. But we don't know how to treat civilians held captive for so long.”
In this context, the support of family and close friends is essential. Reunification after years of separation is often marked by a mix of a desire for contact and a need for space. Specialists recommend that both family members and therapists respect the released couple's pace, allowing them to decide when they want to talk, share experiences, receive hugs, or simply be in each other's company.
“We're going to work with them at their own pace. They want to eat, there's food. They want to talk, we can talk. They want to chat and share what they've been through with us, we're going to listen. They want to laugh, we're going to laugh. They want to dance, we're going to dance. We're at that pace with them all the time,” the psychologist explains.
Human contact, absent during captivity, becomes an urgent need for many, although not all immediately request it. Therefore, those around them should be alert to the signs and offer support only when the released individuals request it. Even in medical procedures, it is recommended to ask and wait for consent before any intervention, to reinforce the sense of control and respect for their boundaries.
Doctors said this is just beginning. They hope that, as happened during the first truces, the freed prisoners will slowly begin to recount their ordeal. Many remained silent about the atrocities publicly because their fellow captives hadn't returned. They didn't want to add to the anguish of the families of those who had become their friends and were awaiting their return. Now, with all the hostages still alive in Israel, their painful stories will begin to be revealed.
