Hole-eyed and emaciated after almost 500 days in captivity in Gaza, Eli Sharabi stood on a podium flanked by masked Hamas gunmen, unaware of what most Israelis already knew.
Throughout the Hamas-led assault on Oct. 7, 2023, a dozen gunmen had burst into Mr. Sharabi’s home within the border neighborhood of Kibbutz Be’eri, the place he had been hiding in a protected room together with his spouse and two teenage daughters. Hoping to avoid wasting them, he mentioned he gave himself up and not using a struggle and was taken to Gaza.
After rising from Hamas’s tunnels final month, he would quickly study that his spouse, Lianne, 48, and his daughters — Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13 — had been shot and killed within the household dwelling that day, together with the household’s canine, Mocha.
One among his brothers, Yossi, who was additionally kidnapped from Be’eri, died in Gaza after 100 days in captivity.
Mr. Sharabi and several other different launched hostages have been flying to the US on Monday to fulfill this week with administration officers, together with a possible viewers with President Trump.
Mr. Sharabi’s mom and three remaining siblings rejoiced over his return on Feb. 8, a part of a cease-fire involving exchanges of hostages for Palestinian prisoners. However they mentioned they’d agonized beforehand, not realizing whether or not he was conscious of the destiny of his household or how they may break the information to him.
Compelled by his captors to talk throughout the dwell broadcast at his handover ceremony, Mr. Sharabi mentioned he was glad to be returning to his spouse and daughters. His surviving brother, Sharon Sharabi, informed The New York Occasions shortly after his launch that his brother’s captors had informed him his household was ready.
