Israeli hostages who returned from Gaza on Monday began giving structured accounts of their captivity that described torture, starvation, prolonged isolation, confinement in underground cages, and efforts by their Hamas captors to convert them to Islam. 

Several freed hostages said they were kept alone for months at a time with little food or light. Avinatan Or, abducted from the Nova music festival in October 2023, spent more than two years in isolation and saw other hostages only at the point of release. An initial medical examination found he had lost between 30 percent and 40 percent of his body weight and relatives said he had been “starved and terrified” for extended periods, Israel’s Channel 12 reported. 

Or was reunited with his girlfriend, former hostage Noa Argamani, who was released in a rescue operation by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in June 2024, along with three other hostages. He did not know about Argamani’s fate until his release. The two were featured in a viral video filmed by Hamas of their kidnapping, becoming symbols of the acts of terrorism of that day. 

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists from Gaza kidnapped 251 hostages and murdered 1,200 people during their invasion of and rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. All the living hostages still in captivity were released on Monday as part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal to halt fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. However, the Palestinian terrorist group has still not handed over the remains of 19 deceased hostages, violating its obligation under the agreement to release everyone who was abducted during the Oct. 7 atrocities.

Relatives of one of the living hostages freed this week, Omri Miran, 48, said he had been held in 23 separate places above ground and in tunnels. His brother Nadav said Miran remained roughly aware of the days and how much time had passed. There were long stretches in which guards passed the time alongside him. “Sometimes he would cook food for his captors, and they loved his cooking,” Nadav said, adding that some guards used Hebrew to communicate and that card games filled parts of the day. Miran, a father of two, returned home this week and was filmed playing with his daughters. His brother said he “looks pale, but his sense of humor is the same.”

Other accounts focused on the loss of time and physical restraint. Elkana Bohbot, 36, who worked at the Nova festival, told his wife he had been chained in a tunnel for most of his captivity and that the lack of sunlight erased any sense of day or date, except for the date of his wedding anniversary in which he insisted on a shower. His terrorist guard at first refused, then removed his chains and showered him. At times he said he was shown images of rallies and public appeals by his family seeking his release.

Reports from the families described harsher treatment during the early phase of captivity and in the weeks before release. The mother of 22-year-old Matan Angrest, a soldier, said her son had faced “very severe torture” in the initial months. “He remembers being beaten so badly that he lost consciousness,” she said. She described guards dragging him while covered in black sacks and tunnel walls collapsing around him during fighting above ground. In the last four months he was confined to a small, dark tunnel under “special guard,” she said. 

According to his mother, captors told Angrest that Israelis had given up on the hostages and that Hamas had conquered Israel and were planning “the next Oct. 7.” They also falsely claimed his Holocaust survivor grandparents were dead. Learning that they were alive after his return “motivated” him, she said.

Families also cited changes in the way some hostages were handled as ceasefire talks advanced. Ilan Dalal, father of Guy Gilboa-Dalal, said he had been held in a tunnel with another hostage, Evyatar David, until about a month ago, after which he was moved separately and then held in another tunnel with a different hostage, Alon Ohel, until release. His son had been “force-fed” in recent weeks, likely the result of international outcry after Hamas released footage showing an emaciated David being forced to dig his own grave.

Accounts from twins Gali and Ziv Berman, snatched from Kfar Aza, said they were held separately in total isolation and were unaware the other was alive. It was the longest time the twins had ever spent apart. They told family members there were times of food scarcity and times when more food was available. Some guards spoke Hebrew. The twins said that while underground they could hear IDF activity nearby but could not determine where they were or what was happening above ground.

Religious coercion featured in the account of Rom Braslavski, who was held largely in isolation by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group, according to his mother, Tami. She told Israel’s Channel 13 news that he “suffered abuse” but she declined to elaborate further. She said guards demanded that he convert to Islam and promised better treatment if he read the Quran or observed Ramadan fasts. He refused, she said, and upon release “kept saying, ‘I am Jewish … I am strong,’ and he put on tefillin,” referring to small leather boxes with straps traditionally wrapped on one’s head and arm at the start of weekday morning prayers.

Tami Braslavski described psychological tactics that included false claims that “Iran bombed Israel” and stitched footage designed to convince him his parents had abandoned him.