When newly-released Hamas hostage Eli Sharabi saw his brother-in-law for the first time in over a year, the first thing he did was make sure he and his family were okay.
Mr Sharabi, 52, was taken by Hamas from Kibbutz Beeri on 7 October 2023, while his British-born wife Lianne and their two teenage daughters Noiya and Yahel were found murdered in their home.
His brother-in-law Steve Brisley and his family, from Bridgend, have been campaigning for over a year for Mr Sharabi’s release.
He added Mr Sharabi had been unaware his wife and children had been killed and was told by an Israeli soldier after asking if they were waiting for him.
Mr Sharabi was released on 8 February and was one of three hostages handed to the Red Cross by Hamas in a choreographed release in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.
Mr Brisley told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast the last week had been “intense, emotional, but cathartic”.
He said his wife and daughters were desperately waiting for news on the day before Mr Sharabi was due for release.
“We saw Eli step out of the vehicle but he was unrecognisable,” Mr Brisley said. “All four of us were saying ‘is that Eli?’, he was so drawn and gaunt, emaciated.”
Eli Sharabi was brought on stage before being handed over to the Red Cross [HAITHAM IMAD/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock]
Mr Brisley said: “The most distressing thing for us was the darkness in his eyes, the light looked like it had gone.”
Mr Sharabi made a speech on the stage at the release and said he was looking forward to being reunited with his wife and children.
“It wasn’t until he was in the Israeli army vehicle being transferred from Gaza into Israel that he asked ‘are Lianne and the girls waiting for me?’
“One of the soldiers had to tell him that they had in fact been murdered on the 7th and were not waiting for him,” Mr Brisley said.
Arriving at the hospital where Mr Sharabi had been transferred, Mr Brisley said: “We just threw our arms around each other, hugged, we told each other that we loved each other”.
“He spent 490 days in captivity and his first thought was to make sure we were okay and to express his condolences to us for the loss of Lianne and the girls,” he added.
Mr Brisley said he wanted to make sure his brother-in-law knew he remained “an integral part of our family”.
Mr Sharabi told his family his wife and daughters were alive when he was taken from the house.
“We will never know exactly what happened, what went wrong for them to be killed,” Mr Brisley said.
“He hasn’t spoken to me much about what his experience was but his emaciated frame shows the starvation all the hostages have spoken of has been his experience as well.
“I’ve spent 16 months speaking on his behalf because he didn’t have a voice, obviously now he’s out he will have his own story and his own truth to tell.”
Mr Brisley said they sat and talked about memories of Lianne, Noiya and Yahel.
“It was emotional, we shared tears, we shared hugs, obviously he got quite choked at times but he was able to talk about them.”
Eli and Steve remembered the holidays Yahel, Eli, Noiya and Lianne enjoyed [Family photo]
“I gave him some grief about how rubbish Man United have been for the last year and he laughed at that, it was that, seeing the light back in his eyes that reassured me that Eli is still in there.
“I think the most positive thing that came out of my conversations with him is that he does see a future and he does want to go on,” Mr Brisley said.
Travelling to Israel also allowed Mr Brisley to “process the loss of Lianne and the girls” as he said “it was always difficult to fully engage with our grief while Eli was still in captivity”.
He said he visited the Nova festival site and the Sharabi family home which was “cold and dark and devoid of the love and the laughter and the light that had been there 18 months ago”.
“I sat on the floor and sobbed,” he said.
“It was at once beautiful and awful, but cathartic, grief is just love that has no home,” Mr Brisley said. “Now Eli is back we have somewhere to direct that love and I think that will help us to grieve for Lianne and the girls.”
“We’re looking to close a chapter of this whole horrific book, but we’re going to be dealing with it for the rest of our life,” he said.
Lianne grew up in Staple Hill, on the outskirts of Bristol, and first moved to Israel as a volunteer on a kibbutz when she was 19, before relocating to the country permanently.
After just three months in Israel, she met Eli. They had two daughters, Noiya and Yahel, who were 16 and 13 when they were killed.
One of Eli’s brothers, Yossi, was also taken hostage on 7 October, but was later killed in captivity. Hamas said his death was the result of an Israeli airstrike, which Israel said was likely.
