Brothers of Eli Sharabi, Or Levy say their weakened state must be call to action to see hostage deal through

By Jessica Steinberg

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9 February 2025, 10:12 pm

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Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center

Sharon Sharabi, brother of released hostage Eli Sharabi (left) and Michael Levy, brother of released hostage Or Levy at Sheba Medical Center on February 9, 2025. ( The Hostages and Missing Families Forum)

As released hostages Eli Sharabi and Or Levy relate details of their Hamas captivity to family members, including being chained and starved in narrow, low-ceilinged tunnels, their brothers, Sharon Sharabi and Michael Levy give statements to the press at Sheba Medical Center.

Sharon Sharabi says his brother’s gaunt, weakened condition is proof that every hostage must be brought home.

When I see Eli, Ohad and Or — and other abductees who have returned to us — how can I not think of the sentence, ‘I seek my brother,'” says Sharabi, quoting from the biblical book of Genesis. “And I tell you, Bibi Netanyahu, at this time, make brave decisions. These are critical moments for saving human lives. Every moment that passes, every second that passes is a second that may save lives from the tunnels of Hamas, from this cruel enemy that has slaughtered and killed us since October 7.”

Michael Levy, the older brother of Or Levy, says he is now able to hug his brother again, but he is not the same Or who left the house on October 7.

Or Levy suspected that his wife, Eynav Levy, was killed in the roadside shelter near the Nova rave they were trying to escape, but he wasn’t sure until he was released on Saturday.

“For 491 days he hoped he would return to her,” says Michael Levy. “He only found out yesterday, how is he supposed to hear that?”

Levy says his brother was finally reunited with his three-year-old son, Almog, who asked his father why it took him so long to come home.

“What kind of world is this?” says Levy. “We’re happy but we’re wrapped in sadness that we can’t explain. Or comes back alone and his heart is broken again and again by every detail he hears of the last year and a half.”

Levy says the state of the released hostages is the nation’s call to action, to realize that every moment in captivity can be a hostage’s last and that captivity is a death sentence.

“Or’s return is a miracle and every family deserves that miracle, the whole country deserves that miracle,” says Levy.