Freed 13-year-old hostage says family is ‘waiting for a deal’ to bring his dad home

Yagil Yaakov, 13, who was freed from captivity in November after more than 50 days held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, begs for his father Yair to return home.

In an interview with Channel 12 news, his first since returning, Yagil says that since his return, “I’m OK, I try to be normal… things could be better.”

Yagil — whose brother Or was also kidnapped and freed — says his mother finally agreed for him to do an interview with the media after he adjusted and recovered from his journey, and in particular to mark 100 days that his father has been held hostage.

“Dad is like my best friend, I miss him so much, to watch movies with him, basketball games, soccer games,” he says.

“In the meantime we don’t know anything, the lack of knowledge is driving the whole family crazy, we’re waiting for any detail just to know what’s happening,” he says, noting that they are “waiting for a deal” that will bring him home.

“I left, but what’s with him, what’s with everyone else there? To live that nightmare — I know, I was there,” he adds. “Every day is like an eternity.”

Yagil says that while he was there he picked up some Arabic, and was repeatedly told “lies about the State of Israel — that they don’t want you here, that they abandoned you, that they don’t want you back, and that they say no to every offered [hostage] deal, and at a certain level you start to believe it.”