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“The hostages today are suffering from prolonged hunger,” released hostage Luis Har said in an interview with Maariv.
“Hamas takes all the aid,” he continued. “I was there; I know what delaying the deals means. Every day increases fear, danger, and suffering. We must not wait, and we must not delay because every passing day increases the concern that, in the end, there will be no one left to bring back.”
Har, who was abducted on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, was later freed in a daring military operation in Rafah in February 2024. In his interview, he described the terrifying moments of his abduction, his prolonged captivity in the home of a Hamas operative in southern Gaza, and his eventual rescue and return to Israel.
Violent abduction
A scene of chaos outside
Har described the devastation he saw outside. “I saw other homes that had also been broken into. All the doors were open, and the yards were empty and silent. It seemed like they had already taken all the residents of the kibbutz captive. Someone had stolen a bicycle and tied a child’s small tractor to it. There were many women and teenagers looting houses, running in all directions, and trying to enter homes along with the terrorists. It looked like a surreal movie.”
The captives were led through a breach in the kibbutz’s fence to waiting vehicles. “A white Toyota screeched to a halt and quickly loaded us in amidst shouts and urgency,” he said.
Har noted the terror in Mia [Leimberg], a fellow captive: “Mia was in shock, utterly terrified. She was holding the dog and not speaking. But we spoke in Spanish among ourselves. We said, ‘Let’s pretend we don’t understand Hebrew or Arabic to minimize contact with the terrorists.’
The car was filled with weapons—mortars, RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades)—and we were sitting on top of them. Above us were five terrorists, shooting upwards and shouting ‘Allahu Akbar.’
They trampled us as if we were rags.”
Survival strategy
Communication among the hostages was limited, Har explained. “Very little, and only in Spanish. We said the most important thing was not to resist, to cooperate, and to respond in a way that wouldn’t anger them. That’s how we kept ourselves safe. Every time a door opened, we told ourselves, ‘This is it; we’ve reached the final stop.’ At some point, the terrorists asked, ‘Are you Jews?’ and we immediately said, ‘No, no, we’re Argentinians—Messi, football, Messi.’”
Captivity in Gaza
Har said the captors’ treatment of the hostages varied. “There were some moments of humanity, but not the majority. Most of them were either drugged or completely inhumane.”
“The man of the house, for example, took care of us and made it a point to reassure us that we would be okay. He said, ‘If there’s peace between us, I’ll come to your kibbutz to eat pizza at your place.’ That doesn’t negate the brutality of him and the others, who constantly threatened and shouted. They thought our situation would end in two or three days, but suddenly it became long-term.”
Humor became a lifeline for Har and his fellow captives.
“At some point, we started laughing whenever they said, ‘shwaya shwaya’ (slowly, slowly). I’d say to the man of the house, ‘Come on, shwaya shwaya, we’ve already been here for weeks.’ Humor saved us.”
Har described the challenges of dwindling resources. “I cooked. At first, it was easy; there was everything—canned goods, vegetables, cheese—and they brought pitas every day. But over time, the food ran out. Eventually, Fernando [Merman] and I were sharing one pita a day, dividing it into pieces so we wouldn’t finish it all at once.”
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