Father of Hisham al-Sayed says his son ‘wasn’t kept by humans’ in Gaza

Sha’ban al-Sayed, the father of Hisham al-Sayed, who returned yesterday from more than a decade of captivity in Gaza, says his son was kept in inhuman conditions, and returned a shell of a person.

Al-Sayed slams Hamas for “playing politics on the back of someone who is mentally unwell.”

Throughout his son’s captivity, he says he believed that Hamas would take care of the captives because it was in their interest.

“Then I saw on October 7 how they killed Bedouin, Arab people who weren’t soldiers,” he says. “We want the Arab world to see this and to hear what they say. To know that they killed and took captive Arab people and a woman in Bedouin dress?”

Al-Sayed says when his son returned yesterday, he was walking on his own, but when he finally hugged him, he was hugging a shell of a person. He says Hisham can barely speak, and has no memory.

“It gives us the sense that he wasn’t kept by humans, and we want an answer, we want an answer,” he says.

He thanks everyone in the Israeli government who was part of the effort to free Hisham, and also US President Donald Trump “who gave us strong support.” Al-Sayed also calls to bring every other hostage home “without waiting for further stages.”