Relative of rescued hostages describes immense relief and gratitude at their return
Maayan Sigal-Koren, whose mother, mother’s partner, uncle, aunt and cousin were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, talks about family’s recovery
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Two days after hostages Louis Har and Fernando Marman were freed from captivity in Gaza, Maayan Sigal-Koren, who is related to both men, said the two felt secure from the moment they realized they were being rescued by Israeli forces.
In the early morning hours of Monday, Marman and Har, who were being held on the second floor of a building in Gaza, heard their names being called and understood immediately that they were being rescued.
In a complex overnight operation, special forces rescued the two from Hamas captivity in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip — only the second successful extraction of hostages held by the terror group.
“Fernando said that the moment that the Israeli soldier held him he felt secure, like nothing can ever happen to him again,” said Sigal-Koren, speaking in English for an online press conference with the Jerusalem Press Club. “It was very calming to know that they felt so safe, that they felt home even before they got back to Israel.”
Har, 70, and Marman, 61, were abducted from Har’s safe room in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak where Har lives with his partner Clara Marman. Clara’s sister, Gabriela Leimberg and Leimberg’s 17-year-old daughter Mia, as well as Clara and Gabriela’s brother, Fernando Marman, were all visiting that weekend. All five were taken hostage together on the morning of October 7, when Hamas-led terrorists killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in a murderous rampage in southern Israel.
They were all were hiding in a corner of Clara Marman and Har’s safe room when terrorists began shooting through the door that was wedged closed with a chair, said Sigal-Koren.
The five family members were the only people taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak that day, she said.
The three women, Clara Marman and Gabriela and Mia Leimberg, were released on November 28 after more than 50 days in captivity as part of a pause in fighting.
At the time, Har and Marman thought they would be released a few days later, said Sigal-Koren. But when they heard the missiles falling around them, the two men realized that fighting had resumed. They were rescued after another 76 days had passed.
The two men were held by a Hamas terrorist who spoke no English or Hebrew, and related very little information, said Sigal-Koren. When he did speak to them, he spoke about what was happening from his perspective, which was perhaps a form of psychological terror, she said.
The terrorist spoke to the two hostages about the war, about Hamas’s achievements, including October 7, which he described as a great victory, and his sense of satisfaction that the terror group had taken so many hostages, related Sigal-Koren.
Har and Marman survived by being together, she said.
“They did absolutely nothing all day,” said Sigal-Koren, but had been told by doctors that being together helped them survive.
“From time to time, they didn’t want to talk to anyone, they wanted to disappear,” said Sigal-Koren, relating what they told her. “They tried to close their eyes and meditate in order to do something, to be somewhere else in their minds.”
Sigal-Koren said she was in shock when word came in the middle of the night Monday that Marman and Har had been rescued, and needed to hear the message several times to believe that they were safe.
“I’m feeling really relieved, excited, grateful and, on the other hand, I feel that still part of me is held in captivity,” she said, adding that she can’t feel completely happy and relieved while 134 hostages are still held hostage in Gaza.
Her family members are beginning to share details, and “we want to know everything but it’s hard to talk about it,” she said. “There’s a lot of things I understand we’ll never understand.”
While the two men are doing well and were released from the hospital on Wednesday, Sigal-Koren said she can see the consequences of her own mother’s hostage experience after 53 days of captivity.
Sigal-Koren’s mother, Clara Marman, is temporarily living near her daughter, and until Monday night’s surprise rescue, was completely focused on her partner Har and brother Marman.
“She only talked about that,” said Sigal-Koren, who has played an active part in the Hostages and Missing Families Forum efforts, and brought her mother to the Knesset as well as to Madrid last week to meet with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and King Felipe VI, “to see and talk with anyone who might be able to help us.”
The family can start to recover now, said Sigal-Koren, with therapy and rehabilitation.
“You can see they’re starting to have their strength back, they’re smiling and laughing, they’re feeling a lot better,” she said, describing her uncle and mother’s partner.
The two men are expected to be released Wednesday from the hospital, where they were brought immediately after their daring rescue from Gaza early Monday.
“Their health is rather good, we’re very optimistic about getting back to our life slowly,” said Sigal-Koren.
The Times of Israel Community.