Children held hostage by Hamas were “marked” by their captors with burns from hot motorcycle exhaust pipes, the families of newly freed child hostages have revealed.
“They told us stories about what they went through inside Gaza. The story is horrible,” said Yaniv Yaakov, the uncle of 12-year-old Yagil and 16-year-old Or, two boys who were released this week as part of Israel’s cease-fire deal with Hamas.
“Every child brought by Hamas was taken on a motorcycle and they took every child, took their legs and put them on the exhaust of the motorcycle, so they would be burned so they would be marked if they ran, if they ran away, so they could find them ,” Yaakov said during the interview, according to the Times of Israel.
Her nephew and other children captured by the terrorists were also often moved from place to place, and given drugs to keep them sedated.
“They were treated badly, but at least they were with us,” he said.
Or Yaakov, 16, was one of the children “marked” by Hamas with burns from hot motorcycle exhaust. Respectfully Yagil Yaakov, 12, was released this week. courtesy
Yagil and Or’s account is just one of many emerging from relatives of children taken hostage by Hamas during their bloody October 7 attack on Israel. Of the more than 200 hostages, about 40 people are believed to be children. At least 32 children have been released so far.
The youngest child, 10-month-old Kfir Bibas, died in Hamas custody along with his mother and 4-year-old brother. The terrorist group claimed they were killed by Israeli fire.
Twelve-year-old Eitan Yahalomi was beaten by a group of Gazans when he was first brought across the border from Israel, his aunt Deborah Cohen said, according to Reuters.
Later, the terrorists forced him to watch graphic footage of their massacre in Israel, Cohen said.
Kfir Bibas, just 10 months old, died in Hamas custody, according to the terrorist group. via REUTERS
“Whenever children cry there, they threaten them with guns to make them shut up. As soon as they got to Gaza, all the civilians, everyone beat them,” he said in an interview with France’s BFM TV channel.
“We’re talking about a 12-year-old,” he added.
Emily Hand, a 9-year-old who spent her confinement dodging between houses in Gaza with her captors to avoid being shot, has only spoken in whispers since she returned after they ordered her to keep quiet.
“I had to put my ear close to his mouth to listen. In confinement, he was told not to make any noise. You could see the fear in his eyes,” his father, Thomas Hand, told CNN after his recent release.
Another girl held with Emily, 13-year-old Hila Rotem Shoshani, also only spoke in a hoarse voice, according to her family.
Emily Hand, 9, shortly after being reunited with her father. He spoke in a whisper after Hamas forced him to remain silent. via REUTERS
Many of the children were reportedly kept underground in Hamas’ elaborate tunnel system for the duration of their detention, where they subsisted on minuscule rations of rice and pita bread.
The ceasefire agreement began on November 24 after Hamas agreed to release 50 hostages in return for a four-day ceasefire and the release of 150 prisoners.
A rescuer carries a child amid the rubble of an airstrike. AFP via Getty Images
Hamas was given the option to extend the ceasefire by another day for every 10 additional hostages released.
More than 100 hostages have been freed as the ceasefire is scheduled to be lifted at 7am local time Friday, unless another deal can be reached.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
