Hostage freed in November recalls ‘first hug’ with brother and partner rescued later

Clara Marman, 62, was set free during negotiated lull; her sibling Fernando and partner Norberto Louis Har were extricated three months later by IDF

Rescued hostages Norberto Louis Har, second from left, and Fernando Marman, second from right, appear in a recorded video thanking the troops who saved them in a special IDF operation in Rafah, February 13, 2024. (Screenshot/Channel 12, Used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)
Rescued hostages Norberto Louis Har, second from left, and Fernando Marman, second from right, appear in a recorded video thanking the troops who saved them in a special IDF operation in Rafah, February 13, 2024. (Screenshot/Channel 12, Used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)

Clara Marman, 62, who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and released in a late-November temporary truce, spoke about the first moments of family reunion after her partner and her brother were rescued from Gaza by Israeli special forces last month.

“Our first hug — all five of us together — reminded me of our hug in the safe room [on October 7] when they came to kidnap us,” Marman told Channel 12 in a report aired Saturday, recalling the day Hamas terrorists rampaged through southern Israeli communities, killing some 1,200 people and dragging another 253 back to Gaza, mostly civilians. Marman and four other members of her extended family were hiding together in her safe room when Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak was invaded.

Marman’s sister Gabriela Leimberg, 59, and 17-year-old niece Mia Leimberg were also released on November 28 as part of the temporary ceasefire deal. Her partner Norberto Louis Har, 70, and brother Fernando Marman, 60, were released by Israeli forces from Hamas captivity during a raid in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 12.

“We’re all back and we’re all in relatively good condition. Of course, we’re still recovering,” Marman told Channel 12.

“My happiness can’t be complete until all of the hostages are free,” she added.

Marman said that the families whose relatives are still held by Hamas in Gaza are “completely broken,” specifically mentioning the 19 women still held by terror groups.

Clara Marman, who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and released in late November, talks to Channel 12 about reuniting with her brother and partner after they were rescued from Gaza in a daring February commando raid, March 10, 2024. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

A United Nations report on Hamas’s sex crimes against Israeli civilians during the October 7 attacks presented last week found “clear and convincing” evidence that hostages currently held captive are still facing such abuse.

In the devastating attack, terrorists committed wholesale atrocities including gang rape, torture, and mutilation.

It is believed that 130 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive.

Israel responded to the Hamas attack with a military campaign to destroy the terror group, topple its regime in Gaza, and free the hostages.

International efforts to negotiate another lull like the weeklong November ceasefire have so far failed to produce an agreement. During the previous lull, Hamas released 105 civilian hostages — mostly women and children — in return for three times as many Palestinian security prisoners held in Israeli jails. Humanitarian aid to Gaza was also increased during the ceasefire, which ended when Hamas violated the terms, according to Israeli officials.

The current negotiations are said to revolve around a six-week lull with more hostages exchanged for prisoners and boosted aid in Gaza, where a mounting humanitarian crisis is drawing international concern. Israeli and US officials, speaking anonymously to media, have blamed Hamas for the hold-up, saying it won’t agree to terms on the table that Israel has accepted.

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