Hostages ‘tortured, starved and kept in chains for two years’

According to the Israeli broadcaster Kan, most of the hostages freed on Monday were taken to tunnels after the June 2024 rescue operation that freed Argamani , Andrey Kozlov, Almog Meir and Shlomi Ziv, and found out very little about events in the outside world after that.

Channel 12 reported that freed hostage Elkana Bohbot spent most of the two years chained in a tunnel, where he lost all sense of time and space.

However, the report said Bohbot recalled his wedding day and insisted on being able to shower on the anniversary. His terrorist captor initially refused, but eventually relented, removed his chains and showered him, the report said.

A relative of an unnamed hostage told Israel Hayom that the terrorists held guns to the heads of captives and threatened them if they were not satisfied with their conduct while being filmed for a propaganda video, or if they refused to cooperate at all.

There were moments of “coexistence” with the captors, the family member said. For example, when terrorists needed an extra player in a game of cards, they would bring the hostages to join them.

Anat Angrest told Channel 12 on Monday evening that her son, Matan, experienced especially “very severe torture” during his initial months in captivity, since he was a soldier.

“He was alone for a long period, under special guard,” she said, adding that Matan told her he refused to let the “monsters” who held him captive psychologically break him.

While kept in tunnels, Matan was shown very little news, “and for the rest of the time, they suffered severe psychological warfare, that [Israelis] gave up on them, that [Hamas] was going to conquer the country, that they are planning the next October 7,” Angrest said.

“In the last four months, most of the time, he was in a small dark tunnel. Now suddenly, he’s being offered lots to eat,” Angrest said.

She also said that her son did not remember most of the details of his abduction, but remembered the battle before, and that his friends were killed.

“He has flashbacks of a fire; he remembered his hands were burned, he remembers he lost unconscious,” she said, adding that her son remembers being abused during his abduction.

She also said that his captors lied to him, claiming his maternal grandparents — who are Holocaust survivors — were dead.

She said that despite everything, he was in a “reasonable state, at least, mentally”.