Alone in cell guarded by terrorists: Mother of teen recounts ‘horror’ of his captivity
Bat-Sheva Yahalomi says Eitan was only allowed to shower twice in 52 days, never slept on mattress and was beaten by terrorists; he still has nightmares and hasn’t resumed normal life
Four months after he was freed from captivity in Gaza, Eitan Yahalomi celebrated his bar mitzvah, but his coming-of-age last week was far from a joyous occasion, his mother told AFP.
In her first interview with international media since her son’s release last November, Bat-Sheva Yahalomi said the boy still has nightmares and has not been able to resume normal life.
“He’s strong, but he’s not well,” she said, adding that he was still reliving the experiences of October 7 last year.
Eitan, 12 years old at the time, was one of 253 people abducted by Hamas terrorists that day and was snatched from his home in Nir Oz, a kibbutz in southern Israel.
His mother and two younger sisters were also taken, but they escaped after they fell from their captor’s motorbike.
Eitan’s father Ohad, also taken on October 7, is still believed to be in captivity in Gaza.
Despite the precarious situation, the French-Israeli woman said she wanted to testify to the “horror” that her son experienced.
“First, he was beaten, then they put him alone in a cell with bars and he was left alone for 16 days in the custody of armed men from Hamas,” she said.
He was released 52 days later as part of a truce that saw 105 people, mostly women and children, set free.
It is believed that 130 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during the truce in late November, and four hostages were released prior to that. Three hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 11 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military.
The IDF has confirmed the deaths of 34 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.
One more person has been listed as missing since October 7, and their fate is still unknown.
The October 7 attack resulted in about 1,200 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claims that more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in the war, but the number cannot be independently verified, and it is believed to include both Hamas terrorists and civilians, some of whom were killed as a consequence of the terror group’s own rocket misfires.
The IDF says it has killed over 13,000 terrorists in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 who were killed inside Israel on and immediately following October 7.
The United Nations has said northern Gaza is on the brink of famine and the territory’s health system is collapsing.
‘No answers’
Bat-Sheva Yahalomi said her son told her everything about his captivity when he was freed, an account she said she still found disturbing.
“They forced him to watch films they said they had filmed on October 7, and when he cried, they threatened him with a gun,” she said.
Under constant surveillance and in isolation, he knew nothing of the fate of his family and his captors gave him contradictory accounts, plunging him into “terrible uncertainty,” she said.
An Israeli doctor who treated some freed hostages said in December that some youngsters were drugged by their captors and subjected to psychological abuse.
A woman who was detained with Eitan, Doron Asher-Katz, said after her release that they had been moved after 16 days to a hospital building, which the IDF later said was the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
There, he was locked in a small room with 10 other hostages, including five children, Asher-Katz said.
His mother said he showered only twice in 52 days, did not sleep on a mattress once, and during the first 16 days all he had to eat was “a pita and a cucumber a day.”
Although Eitan once again has the material comforts of home, the absence of his father means the family is still in limbo.
“The children ask me about their father, but I don’t have any answers,” said Bat-Sheva Yahalomi, who is still hoping for her husband’s return.
She last saw him on October 7, injured, in front of their home.
