Israel Shares Heartbreaking Before-After Photos of Hostages Released by Hamas As Part of Ceasefire Deal- wna24

Tel Aviv: The 15-month war between Israel and Hamas has come to a halt with the Gaza Ceasefire deal as the hostage exchange continues successfully. Hours after three Israeli hostages were handed over by Hamas, Israel shared before and after photographs of them which have been heartbreaking.

Hamas released three Israeli hostages on Saturday- Eli Sharabi, Or Levi and Ohad Ben Ami. The hostages have been released and are healthy enough to walk on their two feet, but their appearance has changed drastically due to their living conditions for the past months. 

The photographs shared by the official page of Israel in a post on ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter), showed the drastic change in how the hostages looked before they were held captive versus now. The post has been titled, “There are no words.”

The men appeared very frail, weak and pale; their condition was worse than that of the previously released Israeli hostages. As per local media reports, the mother-in-law of one of the hostages, who was shocked to see her son-in-law’s condition, said, “He looked like a skeleton, it was awful to see.”

Shocked to see the sight of the hostages released by Hamas and their pitiful condition, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement, “We will eliminate Hamas, and we will return our hostages.” He also termed the Hamas militants as ‘monsters’.

The three men, captured by Hamas during its October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, have been freed on Saturday, in the fifth exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel.

Eli Sharabi was taken captive from Kibbutz Beeri, a communal farm that was one of the hardest hit in the Hamas attack. His wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters were killed by militants.

Ben Ami, a father of three, was taken hostage from the same community, where he was the kibbutz accountant. His wife, who was also captured, was released during a brief ceasefire in November 2023.

Levy, a computer programmer from the city of Rishon Lezion, was pulled by militants from a bomb shelter near the Nova music festival in southern Israel. His wife was killed during the attack. The couple’s toddler son has been under the care of family members.