“I don’t know he survived,” says Freed Israeli hostage niece ncvrs.com

While Hamas kept it hostage for 15 months in Gaza, 80 -year -old Gadi Moses was eating a piece of bread and one olive, niece, Efrat Machikawa.

“I have no idea he survived,” he says to the BBC. “He lost so much weight.”

They got a small bowl of water to wash themselves every five days and had to ask for the toilet, he said. He often moved and was mostly alone, Machine Machikawa said, “loneliness is another form of torture.”

In his head, he calculated mathematical problems to distract himself and walked 11 km (six miles) a day in a room, measuring the distance, he added.

“Even in the darkest times, he knew how to lift himself up,” he said. “The greatest power was the hope of reuniting with the family and worrying about us, the only nutrition was for his soul.”

Gadi was one of the 18 hostages released this year as part of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in exchange for 583 Palestinian prisoners.

The purpose of the ceasefire is to end a 15 -month war in Gaza after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 as a hostage.

According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, Israel’s military campaign killed more than 47,000 people in Gaza in response, whose data is considered reliable by the UN.

Now, since hostages return from more than a year in captivity, details of their circumstances. Restricted Food Reports, Without Fresh Vegetables, are similar to the conditions announced by the Gazanas during the warOr

Two former hostage family members told the BBC that they had come back thinner.

“We are all very, very excited for Keith to come home, but he is very worried that he sees the state he has returned to us,”-Tal Wax, the 65-year-old American-Israeli hostage cousin Keith Siegel, who was released on Saturday, said .

“Although we can see that he can walk and talk, we see that he has lost a lot of weight,” he said.

He heard from his cousins ​​and Mr Siegel’s wife Aviva that “he had to endure many terrible situations in captivity while remaining a good man.”

Still vegan, he added.

“Keith is very humane and he wanted to tell us that he was still the same person … Even if he experienced it … he still suits his convictions,” he said.

“This is just the beginning of rehabilitation. We have a long way ahead of us.”

Ms Machikawa said that even her uncle’s release was a “awesome” experience.

As the crowd surrounded him on Thursday in Gaza, he thought it was the end of his life, “he said.

After returning to Israel, he was able to sleep for the first time for five hours.

“I feel my tension is slowly melting,” he said.

He ran on Friday to embrace his uncle in the hospital, where he gave him the “strongest, strongest hug” and the woman “a tear of relief and love.”

“We understand that the uncle we know is the same thing we know, but even bigger,” she said as she talks about rehabilitation and the strong and dreams of returning to her field where an agricultural expert.

“Unity and family, as well as the commitment to justice and the right reason are greater than anything else, because on October 7, I stopped my life,” he said.

He thanked Qatar and the United States for broadcasting business and “Brave” Red Cross workers who made expenditure easier.

“The joy is amazing,” he said, but he has mixed feelings until every hostage returns. He said that “we must abolish terror” and “Israel must secure its borders and work for the better neighborhood and the region”.

“We always strive to be better, like Gadi, to be connected in the worst times, and gives everyone the chance of a better life.”

So far this year, few hostages have gained public experience.

On Saturday, Doron Steinbrecher, who was released two weeks ago, published a video statement.

“It takes time and this is a process – one -weekly will not end, but I’m here thanks to you and I’m fine,” he said.

“I understand that everyone knows me from this terrible shot,” they catch, catch, catch, “or like a pink blond girl,” he said. “But I’m no longer blonde and I’m not wearing pink anymore. I’m 31 years old. I’m no longer Hamas and I’m home.”

For families who are still captive, “you are not alone” and “continue to fight for you,” he added.

This includes the Bibas family, who welcomed their back yard on Saturday, but his wife, Shiri and his two little sons, Ariel and Kfir, who were also hostage.

Hamas had previously said that at the beginning of the war they were killed in an Israeli air strike – but they The list of hostages In January he said he was willing to free.

“A quarter of our hearts returned to us after 15 long months,” the Bibas family said in a statement. “Yarden has returned home, but the home remains incomplete.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said his country was “deeply worried” about their destiny.

An additional 15 hostages and about 1,300 Palestinian prisoners will continue to be released during the first six weeks of the ceasefire began on January 19.