a recently released hostage has given his first interview since returning home under the ceasefire agreement.
Yosef Haim Ohana revealed a chilling incident in which he was almost murdered early in his captivity.
"Suddenly an irritated man enters the room, pulls out his handgun, holds it against my head, [and asks], 'Tell me how many people have you killed. Now I will kill you',” he recounted.
"I told him, ‘Zero, zero, I didn’t kill anyone’. Then he said, ‘Oh, you are lying to me too,’ and was about to shoot me.
"Then some sheikh came, grabbed his arm and pulled, and told him, ‘Not now'.”
He also recalled how captives were beaten both "spontaneously" and in organised "sessions", while they were held in tunnels underneath Gaza.
"On one side, there’s a dark corridor; on the other side, there’s a dark corridor,” he explained.
"When someone comes with a lamp, at first, there were periods when we waited for it, maybe they’ll bring us a teapot or something.
"One time they came, we greeted them, and suddenly they started beating us. They received an order, and they started beating us. They put us against the wall on one side, they just take off our shirts and beat us.
"Since then, we’ve called it ‘the lamps are coming.’ And every time we saw the lamps, we had a panic attack. No one knows where to go.”
And Ohana also revealed how he "used [Hamas’] own logic" to prevent his own execution.
This included emphasising his value as a "bargaining chip" who could be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
He told the terrorists: "What, now you will take revenge on me to satisfy your people, but what about the prisoners who are waiting to be released in exchange for me in prison, to be released and see their family?
"If I’m dead, fewer prisoners will be released."
The full interview is set to be broadcast on Tuesday evening.
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