Hours after release, freed hostages talk of Hamas torture, psychological torment

The three hostages who were released from Gaza on Saturday after 498 days of captivity endured physical abuse and were left in the dark as to the fate of their loved ones, according to snippets of information shared with Hebrew media outlets by family members.

The information shared by Channels 12, 13 and the Kan public broadcaster was conveyed by the freed hostages to their families and then cleared for publication by the military censor.

Sagui Dekel-Chen, Sasha Troufanov and Iair Horn were all abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault on southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were seized as hostages.

Dekel-Chen and Horn were held captive by Hamas, and Troufanov was held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

They were released following days of uncertainty and doubt after Hamas accused Israel earlier in three week of failing to meet aid obligations and said it was pausing the scheduled hostage releases. Israel rejected the charge and threatened to resume the war.

The terror group eventually backed down on Thursday, and notified Israel via Qatari and Egyptian mediators of the identities of the three hostages slated for release Saturday.

While the three men looked thin and pale, and Horn appeared to be limping, they appeared to be in a better physical condition than the three severely emaciated hostages who were released last week in images that shocked Israel and sparked an outpouring of anger.

All three of them were held in Khan Younis throughout their captivity, mere hundreds of meters from their homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz. While they were mostly held in tunnels, they were taken to apartments in the lead-up to their release, Kan reported.

All of them learned to speak Arabic during their 498 days in Gaza, and Troufanov also learned to read it, Channel 12 said.

Both Dekel-Chen and Horn were held with other hostages at various points in captivity, and at one stage early on, Horn was held with his brother Eitan, who is not slated for release in the first stage of the ceasefire and hostage release deal. They were not held together recently.

After he was separated from his brother, Iair was forced by his captors to film a video in which he talked about Eitan, Kan reported.

He lost ten kilograms in weight and, like the other hostages, received almost no medical treatment.

Nevertheless, Tel Aviv’s Sourasky Medical Center said his general condition was stable, and that he would be able to focus on reuniting with family and friends before undergoing more extensive testing and treatment.

Upon his release, Horn’s captors gave him an hourglass with a picture of Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held hostage and who has emerged as a leading figure in the movement for the hostages’ return. According to Kan, the IDF plans to give her the hourglass.

Dekel-Chen, who was abducted while battling against invading terrorists with the kibbutz security team on October 7, 2023, was held in a Gaza hospital for the first weeks of his captivity, Channel 12 reported. He was held along with other hostages, including Itzik Elgarat.

He was “tortured during interrogations” by his captors, Channel 12 said and has scars on his body to show for it. He was also shot in the shoulder and wounded on October 7.

The Israeli-American citizen was cut off from the outside world, with no access to any media or information, and didn’t know what had become of his family.

He “mourned and cried” for them, fearing the worst, but also “held out hope for them and was optimistic.”

His wife Avital was seven months pregnant on October 7 when Dekel-Chen was captured and gave birth in December 2023. His captors told him recently that he had a daughter born while in captivity, Kan reported, and gave him earrings for his wife. He didn’t believe what they told him, and asked the IDF representatives he met upon his release to confirm it.

Video footage of Dekel-Chen’s reunion with Avital captured the emotional moment when he found out the name of his third daughter.

“Do you remember what you called her?” Avital asked Sagui, referring to the girl’s baby bump nickname.

“Mazal!” he exclaimed in surprise.

“So that’s what she’s called, Shachar Mazal,” Avital responded.

“It’s perfect,” he said. Shachar is Hebrew for “dawn”; mazal means “luck.”

He only found out about the hostage release and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas two days before his release, at the same time that he learned he was going to be freed, Channel 12 said.

In sharp contrast to the joyful news that awaited Dekel-Chen upon his release, Troufanov returned to the outside world to discover that his father Vitaly had been killed on October 7. He burst into tears at the news, delivered by IDF representatives.

Troufanov was held alone, as was the case with previously freed hostages Gadi Mozes and Arbel Yehoud, both of whom were also held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

He was barely exposed to television or radio in captivity, and had no idea that his family was fighting for his release. However, he heard the radio at the time of the first weeklong truce in November 2023, and discovered that his mother Yelena and girlfriend Sapir Cohen had been released from captivity. His grandmother Irena Tati had also been taken hostage and was released after some 50 days in captivity.

Nineteen Israeli hostages have been freed so far under the ceasefire deal that when into effect last month: Four female civilians, five female IDF soldiers and 10 male civilians. In addition, five Thai hostages were released outside the framework of the deal with Israel.

Another 14 Israeli hostages are slated to be released in the initial stage of the ongoing truce deal with Hamas, of whom the terror group has said eight are dead.

Hamas has so far released 24 hostages — civilians, soldiers, and Thai nationals — during the ceasefire that began in January. The terror group freed 105 civilians during the weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that.

Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 40 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.

Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the body of an IDF soldier who was killed in 2014. The body of another IDF soldier, also killed in 2014, was recovered from Gaza in January.