After being held in Hamas captivity for 482 days, Israeli hostages Arbel Yehud, Gadi Moses, and Agam Berger returned to Israel on Thursday, sharing their traumatic experiences, which included moments of incredible resilience. Despite enduring unimaginable conditions, they maintained their shemiras hamitzvos, abstaining from eating chometz on Pesach and even attempting to fast on Yom Kippur, despite the severe mistreatment they faced from their captors, the Jerusalem Post reports.
The IDF observers, who included Agam Berger, were held in Gaza for months, often confined to underground spaces or apartments controlled by Hamas. Even in such extreme circumstances, incredibly, they made a concerted effort to continue doing the mitzvos.
Agam Berger, the final IDF observer to be freed, shared that her faith provided the strength she needed to endure. After her comrades, Liri, Daniella, Naama, and Karina, were released, Berger was left in solitary confinement for an entire week. She found solace in the knowledge that her fellow captives had made it out and held onto the hope that she would soon follow, according to Kan News.
Arbel Yehud spent nearly 16 months in solitary confinement, often trapped in underground spaces. She endured significant physical and emotional suffering, including extreme malnutrition, and faced consistent abuse from her captors. Kan News reported that during her time in captivity, Yehud was told that her brother, Dolev Yehud, had been killed in the October 7 attack on Nir Oz. However, she remained unaware of the full extent of the tragedy. After her release, she remarked, “I was mostly alone.”
Yehud also spoke about the brutality she faced. “What you saw today—the armed men escorting me—that is just a fraction of the horror,” she said, referring to the thousands of terrorists who had surrounded her in Khan Yunis while she was being transferred to the Red Cross on her way back to Israel.
Eighty-year-old Gadi Moses spent his time in captivity focused on the hope of returning home to his community. He told his family, according to Kan News, “I never broke, I never cried—I just waited for the moment I would be free.” Though he saw his relatives on TV, including on Al Jazeera, he had no direct contact with them. Like Yehud, Moses was tested mentally and physically during his time in captivity but never lost his will to survive and hold onto hope.
{Matzav.com Israel}
