Time to go to the toilet and eat a bread and rice based meal: Stories of hostages freed by Hamas

Food based on rice and bread, endless queues for the bathroom and benches that serve as beds. Hostages freed by Hamas are now beginning to describe what it was like to live in captivity for more than a month in the hands of the Islamic group.

Marav Raviv, a woman who saw three of her family members freed on Friday, said they were fed irregularly and lived on rice and bread for 50 days, losing more than seven kilograms during their captivity.

The woman also claims that the hostages slept on benches outside what appeared to be a reception area and that they sometimes had to wait for hours to go to the toilet.

Adwa Adar, the granddaughter of the released elderly hostage, also told Times of Israel that members of the Islamic group exerted psychological pressure on the grandmother, convincing her that all members of her family had died.

Let us recall that last week Israel and Hamas reached an agreement to suspend hostilities and release hostages taken by the Islamic group in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The truce began last Friday at 7:00 am local time (5:00 am Lisbon time) and is expected to end this Monday.

The agreement was brokered by Qatar with the support of the United States, which played an important role. US President Joe Biden was in contact with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the weeks leading up to the signing of the agreement.

The release of 11 hostages is scheduled for this Monday. Israel says it has received the list but is analyzing it due to some inconsistencies.

Hamas expressed its readiness to extend the period of humanitarian truce, calling for an increase in the number of released Palestinian prisoners.

The conflict in the Middle East has killed more than 16,000 people and injured tens of thousands.