Hamas brutally tortured male hostages for nearly 500 days holding them in conditions so barbaric they had to learn to walk again before their release.
Terrorists hung them by their feet, throttled them with rope, gagged their mouths and branded them with burning objects.
The captives were deliberately starved, held in a room inside a tunnel so tiny they could not move nor stand and were left struggling for air.
After days without food or water they were handed rotten pita bread which they were made to share with others.
‘We were treated like animals,’ one said on being released.
Or Levy, 34, who was freed on Saturday alongside Eli Sharabi, 54, and Ohad Ben AMi, 56, said: ‘I was bound in chains – towards the release I learned to walk.’
The terrorists subjected the men to barbaric interrogation sessions over 491 days in captivity.
Hamas strangled them, tied them up and gagged their mouths with cloth so they nearly suffocated.
Or Levy was abducted from Israel on October 7 (file picture, left) – and was released yesterday (right)
Or Levy is seen from inside an Israeli military helicopter at the Reim military base after leaving Gaza
Eli Sharabi (centre) looked gaunt as he was released by masked Hamas militants yesterday
It was only when they were due for release that the captives were permitted food so that they could stand on their feet during the handover ceremony.
Detailing the horrific abuse on Israeli channel Kann 11, journalists warned: ‘It is impossible to process the things we are about to reveal now.’
They said: ‘The three were deliberately starved, going for long days without any food at all.
‘Every few days, they were given a rotten pita bread, which they were forced to share with other hostages held with them. They went entire days without receiving any water. They did not drink.
‘One of the hostages even collapsed in captivity. It was a traumatic event—those held with him thought he had died.
‘All of them endured horrific torture—things that are difficult to fathom, but it is crucial to tell what is happening in the tunnels.
‘They were taken separately for brutal interrogations by the terrorists, who demanded information while inflicting severe physical abuse.
‘They were strangled, their limbs were tied, their mouths were covered with cloth to the point of suffocation, they were hung by their feet, and they suffered burns caused by a heated object.
‘Regarding the conditions of their captivity, according to the testimonies, they were confined in a small room inside a tunnel where they could not move, certainly not stand, and struggled to breathe. They remained alone for long days. They were barefoot the entire time.’
Mr Levy was at Nova music festival with his 32-year-old wife Einav – the mother of his three-year-old son Almog – when terrorists executed her, and took him hostage.
Israeli Defence Forces discovered a kilometre-long, booby-trapped tunnel where Hamas is said to have kept about 20 hostages in January 2024
The entrance to a tunnel is seen through a gate in the house of a Hamas militant
A dingy, stained wetroom was seen in footage
The military released photos from the underground labyrinth and said it brought in journalists to document the tunnel before it was destroyed
Mr Levy only found out that his partner had been killed on release.
‘His biggest fear was confirmed, he discovered yesterday that his wife was gone,’ Mr Levy’s brother, Michael, 41, said yesterday.
Mr Sharabi also only learnt that his Bristol born wife Lianne, 48, and their daughters Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13 had been killed on release.
Hamas taunted him during their ‘handover ceremony’ where they made him say he was looking forward to seeing his wife and children once he got back home.
Speaking at a press conference at Sheba Medical Centre, near Tel Aviv, where the three men are being treated, Michael detailed the mixed emotions of the cruel release.
‘Yesterday, after a year and four months, I saw my brother again,’ he said. ‘I hugged him, but he wasn’t the same Or who left home on October 7.
‘He came back in poor physical condition. Anyone who saw the pictures and videos couldn’t ignore it. For 16 months, he was hungry, barefoot and in constant fear that everyday can be his last.
‘The hardest blow was yesterday when Or discovered that Einav, the love of his life, was murdered on that terrible day. For 491 days, he held onto hope that he would return to her.’
Earlier, Michael had told Israeli television of the horrors the male hostages are experiencing in Gaza.
‘The stories he tells are harrowing, very distressing, very tough experiences,’ he said. ‘I can’t even describe it…
‘I’m telling you, without a shadow of a doubt, he wouldn’t have survived – the Or that I saw yesterday wouldn’t have survived for another two, three weeks or a month in captivity.’
Ohad Ben Ami before he was captured (left) and upon his release yesterday (right) – noticeably thinner, with a recessed hairline and sunken features
Israeli Defence Forces discovered the tunnel where Hamas is said to have kept about 20 hostages last year
The banner reads ‘absolute victory’, laid over an image of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu inside a red triangle
Mr Sharabi, whose wife and daughters were slain by Hamas on October 7, 2023, is seen in a file picture released after he was kidnapped
Detailing the abuse, Michael said it was directed by Hamas leader and October 7 mastermind Sinwar who was killed by Israel last October.
‘He talked about a deliberate policy… a deliberate directive from above, from Sinwar,’ he said. ‘It was intentional starvation.’
Michael revealed that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was aware as he called on the deal to hold to free the remaining male hostages.
‘I can tell you, unequivocally, that they did hear about intentional starvation,’ he said.
‘The prime minister did know about it, because several months ago, official representatives of the Ministry of Defense, the IDF and the Prime Minister’s Office – the Hostages Administration, which is under the Prime Minister’s Office – came to our home, and they told us about a deliberate policy dictated from above, by Yahya Sinwah, who ordered that the adult male hostages were to be starved.
‘So, there’s no way that we and the families were privy to this, and the prime minister wasn’t. No way.’
Michael revealed that it was an IDF psychologist who told his brother that his wife had died as it was the first question he asked when he was handed over to Israeli forces.
He also had an emotional reunion with his son, Almog, whom he feared would not recognise him as he was a baby when his father was taken.
‘Almog recognised him right away,’ Michael said. ‘That was the most moving experience I’ve ever had. It really was amazing. And they haven’t separated since.’
Last night Almog slept by his father for the first time. ‘That was his father’s dream,’ Michael said.
‘Every night in captivity, he dreamed of the moment he would put Almog to bed, and I’ll help them with that today.
‘The three of us will lie in bed, we’ll read a story, and they’ll fall asleep in each other’s arms.’
Some 76 hostages remain in Gaza.
- Additional reporting by Yaniv Berman
