The Abuses Israeli Hostages Faced from Hamas
Israeli survivors recount months of torture, starvation, and psychological torment under Hamas captivity.
The recent release of Israeli hostages in exchange for 183 Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire arrangement, many of whom are convicted murderers, highlights the stark contrast between the celebratory public handovers and the horrific abuse endured by hostages in captivity. Confined in underground tunnels for months, deprived of daylight, medical care, and adequate food, the hostages suffered psychological and physical torment at the hands of Hamas. Despite clear violations of human rights, some media outlets have attempted to sanitize Hamas’ treatment of hostages, downplaying the abuse and perpetuating false equivalencies between hostage-taking and legal detentions.
Torture, Starvation, and Isolation: The Horrors of Captivity
Accounts from released hostages paint a grim picture of the inhumane conditions they faced in Gaza.
Yarden Bibas, who was released in the latest exchange, has spoken about the severe psychological abuse he endured. His captors repeatedly taunted him about his wife, Shiri, and their young sons, Ariel and Kfir, claiming they had been killed in an Israeli airstrike (though their death has not been confirmed). He was forced to record videos under duress, as Hamas exploited his suffering for propaganda purposes. Despite these torturous conditions, Bibas clung to hope, drawing strength from reports of the campaigns in Israel advocating for the hostages’ release.
Keith Siegel was held in tunnels and frequently moved between homes to prevent detection. He was locked in rooms for extended periods and given barely enough food to survive. As a vegetarian, he had to eat meat to stay alive. For months, he did not know if his son Shai had survived the October 7 attack, only to finally hear his voice on a radio broadcast, providing a rare moment of relief in his harrowing ordeal.
Ofer Kalderon endured relentless physical and psychological abuse. Initially held with Bibas, he was beaten, placed in a cage, and subjected to degrading treatment. His captors treated him as if he were a reservist soldier, forcing him to wear military clothing upon his release. Weakened by his ordeal, his first request after being freed was for a beer, but IDF personnel advised him to take it slow due to his fragile condition.
Emily Damari, a British-Israeli national, was abducted from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. She sustained gunshot wounds while trying to protect her dog, which Hamas terrorists had shot. Over the course of her captivity, she lost two fingers due to a lack of medical care. Similarly, 80-year-old Gadi Moses endured 70 days of total isolation, forced to pace a tiny two-square-meter room to maintain his sanity.
Even the moments leading up to their release were marked by cruelty. Some hostages were forced into performative handovers, paraded before cameras, and subjected to psychological manipulation. Others were dressed in military uniforms as part of Hamas' propaganda strategy.
Media Bias: Sanitizing Hamas' War Crimes
In an alarming trend, social media has become a platform for sanitizing Hamas' treatment of Israeli hostages. Clips of hostages being forced to hold Hamas-branded goody bags or appearing to express gratitude towards their captors have been widely shared, misleadingly portraying their release as humane. These moments, staged under duress, are being used to manufacture a false narrative, ignoring the months of torment hostages endured.
Hostages were coerced into participating in these propaganda stunts, where any sign of defiance could have led to further punishment. Some were forced to smile, wave, or verbally thank their captors on camera, a manipulative tactic meant to sway public opinion. Despite overwhelming evidence of Hamas' brutality, these distortions have gained traction across social media platforms, minimizing the reality of the hostages’ suffering and shifting the focus away from the terror group’s crimes.
Al Jazeera has played a central role in framing Hamas' propaganda for the Arab-speaking world. Senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, Ksenia Svetlova has pointed out how Al Jazeera was directly involved in producing the grotesque spectacle of Hamas' hostage handover ceremonies, where captives were forced to smile, wave, and sign documents on camera. This was part a carefully orchestrated propaganda effort to bolster Hamas' image as victorious and humane.
This pattern of selective outrage is not new. While Israeli airstrikes in Gaza are heavily scrutinized, Hamas' war crimes, including the abduction and torture of civilians, are often overlooked or justified. The hostages' suffering has been overshadowed by political narratives that seek to equate Hamas' hostage-taking with Israel's detention of Palestinian’s convicted of terrorism—despite the vast differences in circumstances, charges, and legal proceedings.
The Complex Realities of Hostage Exchanges
For each Israeli hostage released, dozens of Palestinian inmates, including convicted murderers, have been set free. Among them are individuals responsible for deadly attacks against Israeli civilians. Hamas has named some of those freed, including Shadi Amori, sentenced to 17 years for his involvement in a car bomb that killed 17 people at Megiddo Junction; Ashraf Abu Sror, convicted for fatally shooting an IDF soldier in 2000; and Ahmed Salim, a Fatah member responsible for the murder of Avi and Avital Walensky in a West Bank terror attack in 2002. Additionally, Israel has agreed to release over 1,000 Gazan detainees under the ceasefire agreement, many of whom were detained following the October 7 massacre.
Meanwhile, the fate of many hostages remains unknown. The story of Yarden Bibas is particularly heartbreaking. While he was released in the latest exchange, his wife Shiri and their two young sons remain unaccounted for. Hamas has subjected him to psychological abuse, forcing him to record videos under duress about his family’s fate.
A Moral Reckoning: Demand Justice Now
The treatment of Israeli hostages by Hamas is not merely a political issue—it is a human rights crisis. The international community must recognize the depth of these abuses and hold Hamas accountable. Attempts to sanitize or downplay these crimes do a disservice to the victims and embolden terrorist groups that rely on hostage-taking as a bargaining chip. The world must demand their immediate and unconditional release and refuse to allow Hamas to rewrite the narrative of their captivity.
Only then can justice truly be served.