Freed Israeli hostages recount brutal beatings, starvation and years underground in Hamas captivity

The mother of freed Israeli soldier Matan Angrest said her son was beaten so savagely by his Hamas captors that he blacked out — in one of many chilling accounts emerging since the release of 20 surviving hostages under the Israel–Hamas peace deal this week.

“He remembers being beaten so badly that he lost consciousness,” Anat Angrest told local media in Israel as she described her son’s ordeal after his abduction on Oct. 7, 2023.

“They covered him with black sacks and dragged him away,” she told Haaretz.

Angrest, an Israel Defense Forces soldier taken from his tank near Gaza, told his family that during airstrikes, tunnel walls collapsed around him.

“Many times they found themselves buried in dust under the rubble, trying to climb out and survive,” his mother said.

She added that for the last four months of captivity, he was confined to a dark tunnel.

Several of the freed hostages — among them Ariel Cunio and Rom Braslavski — were kept in complete isolation, Haaretz reported.

Cunio told Israel’s public broadcaster Kan that he spent his entire captivity alone, unaware for months that his brother David and partner Arbel Yehoud were still alive.

Braslavski, 21, was also held alone and told relatives he was starved, shackled, and forced to sleep barefoot on cold ground.

Survivors said Hamas guards ate in front of them while they went hungry.

“The treatment grew harsher once the IDF resumed ground operations in March,” Kan reported.

Channel 13 News said the hostages were never given shoes and that some were kept chained continuously.

The parents of Alon Ohel said their 24-year-old son was shifted through tunnels in Gaza until several weeks ago, when he was moved to serve as a human shield.

“They suddenly moved him to another tunnel in central Gaza,” his parents told Channel 12.

“The IDF had announced an operation to capture [Gaza] City, and they moved him to use him as a human shield.”

Ohel and other hostages were held underground for months at a time, deprived of daylight and basic sanitation. When Hamas released videos during the war showing Ohel and fellow captives, relatives said his face was gaunt and his hair closely cropped — signs of prolonged malnutrition.

In a separate account published by Ynet, Omri Miran, 48, from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, told relatives he counted each of the 738 days spent in captivity, moving between 23 different locations across Gaza.

“He was held both in a tunnel and above ground,” his brother Nadav Miran said.

“Sometimes he cooked food for his captors, and they liked his cooking.”

Nadav said his brother mentally counted every single day.

“He knew exactly what date it was. He didn’t write it down — he kept track in his head,” he said. The hostages, Nadav added, spent most of their time “playing cards with their captors.”

Despite the ordeal, he said, Omri’s humor and cognitive health remained intact.

“He looks pale, but his humor is the same,” Nadav said. “It feels as though he never left.”

Avishai David, the father of freed hostage Evyatar David, said his son was still weak and underweight after being starved for months.

“Even after the video that shocked the entire country, his captors kept starving him,” he told Ynet.

He said that shortly before his release, Hamas guards began feeding him slightly more than usual.

“He realized they were trying to fatten him up, so he ate slowly and carefully,” Avishai said.

“He’s still weak, thin — but he’ll be fine. He’s starting to eat.”

Evyatar, 24, and his friend Guy Gilboa-Dalal were kidnapped together from the Nova music festival. They were separated for six weeks during captivity but reunited this week in an emotional hospital embrace.

“From the first moment, we knew he’d come back,” their families said in a joint statement carried by Israeli media.

In footage released by Hamas in August, Evyatar appeared emaciated, his ribs visible as he said, “I’m not eating; there’s barely any water.”

The men were among 20 living hostages freed Monday, two years after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, under a US- and Egypt-brokered cease-fire and prisoner-exchange agreement.

In return, Israel released roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and the remains of about 360 Palestinians, international monitors said.

The Red Cross oversaw the transfers, which took place amid a broader plan to halt fighting, withdraw Israeli troops from parts of Gaza, and flood the enclave with humanitarian aid.

According to the deal, Hamas must disarm and allow an international stabilization force to secure Gaza while reconstruction begins.

All 20 freed hostages were taken to hospitals across Israel for medical and psychological care. Doctors at Beilinson, Sheba and Sourasky medical centers said many suffered extreme malnutrition, respiratory infections and skin conditions caused by years in dark, humid tunnels.

Families said the former captives remain fragile but lucid.

“He’s strong in spirit and mind — and we’re thrilled he’s back,” Nadav Miran said of his brother Omri.

Doctors expect recovery to take months. Hospital officials said the men are on restricted diets to prevent refeeding complications and remain under close psychiatric supervision.

For the families, reunions offered relief mixed with grief. Some relatives of the dead hostages have yet to receive their loved ones’ remains, promised under the agreement. Israeli officials said they are pressing Hamas for full compliance.