A pair of teenage siblings were released from Hamas custody after 50 days at the weekend – only for their joy to be “crushed” when they learned their mother had been killed by the terrorist group.
Noam Or, 17, and his 13-year-old sister Alma stay strong during their detention by thinking of the day they will be reunited with their mother, Yonat, from whom they were separated when Hamas stormed their home in Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7, their uncle , Ahal Besorai, told CNN.
“This dream has been shattered by the fact that [Yonat] was killed,” Besorai told the outlet.
“My sister, their mother, was killed on October 7. Children don’t know that. We thought they were together when they were kidnapped, but they were separated from the beginning,” he explained.
Noam and Alma were released on Saturday as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the Times of Israel reported.
Noam Or, 17, and his sister Alma were kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7. AP
Their father, Dror Or, is believed to be still a prisoner in the Gaza Strip, the outlet said.
“When they first cross the border and are reunited with their grandmother and brother, the first news they have to deal with is the fact that their mother is dead. And that was a very emotional and traumatic moment for them,” Besorai told CNN about the brothers’ return.
“There were a lot of tears, a lot of pain,” Besorai added in a separate interview with The Guardian.
The trauma was compounded by the fact that the couple did not know they were being released until the last moment, the uncle said.
Noam and Alma were returned to Israel after 50 days in captivity. Hamas Military Wing/Circulation via REUTERS
Instead, the terrorists took Noam and Alma from the room they shared with other women from their kibbutz under the guise of taking them to the toilet, he explained.
The teenagers were then handcuffed, blindfolded, and finally handed over to the Red Cross.
“They tried to hide it from the women who stayed behind, all by themselves – so maybe [that] put psychological pressure on him,” said Besorai.
“It was unpleasant, to say the least. It’s horrible,” he added of what the teenager experienced in captivity, although he declined to elaborate.
Noam and Alma shared the journal with the woman in their room, but they were not allowed to take it with them, he explained.
Alma Or, 13, and her brother shared a room with a woman from their kibbutz, their uncle told CNN. AP
Despite everything they went through, Besorai said the young brothers expressed empathy for the civilian population of Gaza who now live in fear of Israeli counter-military operations in the area.
“When they walk [from the Hamas vehicle] to the Red Cross, and they held hands, Noam told his sister Alma, that he felt very sorry that they were surrounded by Gazans, civilians. He said, ‘I feel sorry for them because they are staying here, and we are going home,’” Besorai claimed.
He said that the brothers were “kind of okay” physically, although they had lost weight during nearly two months in Gaza.
“When I talked to them, the first time I talked to Alma, the 13-year-old niece, she had a really big smile and sparkling eyes when she came to the Zoom call,” Besorai recalled.
“And this is what crossed my mind: What is behind these sparkling eyes? What is inside them following this horrible ordeal? It is very difficult for me to judge.”
The siblings didn’t know they were being released until the last minute, their uncle explained. via REUTERS
Hamas is believed to have killed more than 120 residents of Kibbutz Be’eri and captured several others, CNN said.
Terrorists burned several houses and destroyed most of the small farming communities.
“When Hamas terrorists set fire to their house to force them out of the safe room, the children jumped from the window and tried to hide elsewhere but the terrorists found them and took them to Gaza in a car stolen from the kibbutz,” Besorai told The Guardian when Noam and Alma were kidnapped.
Their mother Yonat is believed to have been shot dead while trying to hide from the attack.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
