2 freed hostages say they were held in a family home in Rafah — report

The two hostages freed in an overnight operation have said they were held captive in the home of a family in Rafah, the Ynet news site reports.

According to the report, Fernando Marman, 61, and Louis Har, 70, told Sheba Medical Center, where they are now being treated, that the reason for their relatively good health despite being held hostage for 129 days was that they were imprisoned in a Gaza home — the implication being that they were not held in a tunnel.

Marman and Har were taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak on October 7.

Clara Marman, 62, who is Marman’s sister and Har’s partner, was also taken, as was their other sister Gabriela Leimberg, 59, and Gabriela’s daughter, Mia, 17.

The Leimbergs and Clara Marman were released on November 28 as part of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar and the United States between Hamas and Israel.

Clara, back in Israel, has said that all five were kept together, and at one point, they were moved in a small car to Rafah, “actually, very close to Nir Yitzhak.”