Recently freed hostage Ofer Calderon says he was “held in tunnels without seeing daylight, had no access to media, experienced severe hunger conditions, went entire months without showering or receiving proper care” during his captivity in Gaza.
Calderon says that “immediately after the first deal [in November 2023], the conditions of my captivity and those of many other hostages severely deteriorated and became brutal.”
“We must not stop the current deal and must continue working to free all the hostages,” he adds, in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.
“Hamas is a cruel enemy who will not hesitate to harm the hostages left behind. We must get everyone out as quickly as possible.”
Calderon was released on February 1 as part of the current ceasefire deal after spending 484 days as a hostage in Gaza.
Israeli Ofer Calderon who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, walks next to Hamas gunmen before being handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 1, 2025. (Abdel Kareem)
It's not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we'll remove all ads from your page and you'll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 10, 2025
