Freed hostage ‘not told Hamas burnt wife, daughters to death’
Eli Sharabi only found out his family’s fate after his release at the weekend, as an Israeli official says some hostages are in worse condition than the emaciated men whose poor condition shocked the country.
Relatives of the freed Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi have confirmed that he did not know his British wife and two children had died at the hands of Hamas until after his release.
Appearing unsteady on his feet after 491 days in captivity, clearly emaciated with sunken cheeks, Sharabi, 52, was paraded in front of cameras during his handover at the weekend. Or Levy, 34, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56, were also freed.
Sharabi had been unaware of the fate of his wife, Lianne, 48, who grew up in Staple Hill on the outskirts of Bristol, and their two British-Israeli teenage daughters, Noiya, 16 and Yahel, 13.
He said upon his release, on stage with masked Hamas fighters in Gaza: “I feel very, very happy today to return to my family and friends — to my wife and daughters. I truly hope to see them very soon.”
Israel’s military is said to have informed him that they were killed on October 7. Surviving family members said on Sunday night that Sharabi’s condition was an “urgent testament” to the need to bring all the hostages home.
At a press conference in Tel Aviv outside the hospital where his brother was being treated for severe malnutrition, Sharon Sharabi said: “Every moment that passes, every second could save lives from Hamas tunnels, from this cruel enemy that massacred us since October 7.”
The family has endured a terrible series of tragedies. Their third brother, Yossi, was killed in Gaza just over a year ago when Israel bombed a building near where he was being held.
Sharabi was taken from his home in a kibbutz before Hamas militants shot their dog then locked his family in the safe room and set it on fire.
Michael Levy, the older brother of Or Levy, also addressed reporters outside Sheba Medical Centre, explaining how Or suspected that his wife, Eynav Levy, had been killed in a roadside shelter when the couple tried to escape Hamas gunmen on October 7. He remained unsure until he was released.
“For 491 days he hoped he would return to her,” Michael Levy said. “He only found out yesterday — how is he supposed to hear that?”
Hamas handing over Israeli hostages to the Red Cross.
The three hostages were released in exchange for 183 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, more than 70 of whom were serving life or long sentences. Sharabi and Levy are being treated in the same hospital as freed hostage Yarden Bibas, who had also been unaware of the fate of his wife and young sons.
Sharabi’s British brother-in-law Stephen Brisley, who lives in Bridgend, told The Times that he had travelled to Israel on Sunday night to welcome him home. “I’m very much looking forward to reuniting with Eli. [I will] throw my arms around him and let him know how much I love him,” he said.
While Brisley is related to Eli’s deceased wife and children, he said Sharabi would “forever remain a part of the British side of his family”. Brisley intends to visit Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the worst-hit communities where Eli was taken captive.
The Sharabi brothers were among 44 siblings kidnapped together, according to a report released on Sunday by Israel’s civil commission that examines Hamas crimes.
In total, this first stage of a ceasefire exchange deal will free 33 people in return for 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, including Gazans detained during the war. The deal is now at its halfway point, with 16 hostages freed and 566 prisoners released.
The family of the hostage Alon Ohel, 23, said they have received a sign of life from him since he was captured by Hamas on October 7, but was “devastated” to learn he was living with an untreated eye injury and a severe lack of food, according to a statement released via the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
Reports suggest that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister of Israel, and his defence ministers have known for some time that captives were being starved by Hamas. The three hostages released over the weekend were “nothing”, unnamed officials told broadcasters Channel 12, adding that there were “some in much worse conditions”.
The initial stage of the ceasefire appeared set to continue on Sunday as Israel said it had withdrawn its military from the strategic Netzarim Corridor that divides the north and south of Gaza.
Netanyahu has sent a delegation to the Qatari capital of Doha, where negotiations for stage two of the ceasefire will be held. Critics have pointed out that the team is comprised of low-level officials, dampening hopes of a breakthrough before the March 2 deadline to end the war.
On Sunday night in Gaza, three people were shot dead by Israeli forces in two incidents, Hamas-affiliated health officials said, including an elderly woman in the southern city of Khan Yunis. The Israeli army reported two incidents where “warning shots” were fired, but did not confirm any casualties.
In the occupied West Bank, Israel said it was expanding a counterterrorism operation to Nur Shams, a historic refugee camp in the north of the territory. Two Palestinian women, one of them pregnant, were killed in Nur Shams on Sunday, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Israel’s military said it was investigating their deaths.
The Times
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