Smiling, glowing and healthy – three words to describe how three Israeli hostages looked before they were taken hostage by Hamas almost 500 days ago.
Now, Or Levy, Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami look like ghosts of their former selves – gaunt, frail and with dark circles around their eyes after enduring 16 months of confinement as the terror group negotiated the release of Palestinian prisoners.
The trio, aged 34, 52 and 56 respectively, were paraded on a stage in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, before they were handed to the Red Cross to be taken to Israel.
Most striking of all was Mr Sharabi, who emerged with a thick beard and a shaven head after shedding most of his body weight, his features dark and recessed. His British wife Lianne and teen daughters Noiya and Yahel were killed as he was taken.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters said the ‘disturbing’ images of the trio’s release served as further ‘stark and painful evidence’ for Israel to do all it could to secure the release of other hostages.
Hamas agreed to release the three men in exchange for the release of 183 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli custody – some of whom were convicted of involvement in attacks that killed dozens of people, others for minor offences.
But the ‘grotesque spectacle’ of the three gaunt, thin men, standing between armed masked Al-Qassam Brigade militants, horrified their relatives following months of agonising uncertainty as to their fate.
Eli Sharabi, whose wife and daughters were slain by Hamas on October 7, as seen in a file picture released after he was kidnapped
Mr Sharabi looked gaunt, his features recessed, as he was released by masked Hamas militants earlier today
This is the fifth hostage exchange of an extremely fragile ceasefire. The banner reads ‘absolute victory’, laid over an image of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu inside a red triangle
A statement from the Sharabi and Brisley families and their lawyers said: ‘We and our clients, the Sharabi and Brisley families, are delighted that after 16 months in captivity, Eli Sharabi has today, Saturday, 8 February 2025, been released from being held as a hostage in Gaza by the Hamas terrorist organisation.
‘We were saddened but unfortunately not surprised at Eli, Ohad and Or’s physical condition and the grotesque spectacle of their release, which should be a wake-up call, if one were needed, to ensure the speedy return of all of the other hostages.’
Mr Sharabi was taken captive by the militants from Kibbutz Beeri, a communal farm that was one of the hardest hit in the Hamas attack on October 7 2023.
His Bristol-born wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel, were killed by militants while hiding in their safe room.
His brother, Yossi Sharabi, who lived next door, was killed in captivity.
The family said they did not know whether Mr Sharabi had been told that his wife and daughters were killed on October 7 2023.
Gillian and Pete Brisley watched the handover of their son-in-law, Mr Sharabi, from their home in Britain with bittersweet emotion, thrilled that he was finally free but horrified at his physical condition.
Mr Brisley said ‘he looks as though he’s been to Belsen’, referring to the Second World War concentration camp.
Ohad Ben Ami before he was captured (left) and upon his release today (right) – noticeably thinner, with a recessed hairline and sunken features
Or Levy was abducted from Israel on October 7 (file picture, left) – and was released today (right)
The handover was completely under tight security – with legions of Hamas troops brandishing Kalashnikov-style rifles
Eli Sharabi with daughters Noiya (left) and Yahel (second from right) and his wife Lianne (right), who were all killed by Hamas. It is not known whether Mr Sharabi is aware of their fate
Close relatives of Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi react as they watch on a television screen the preparations for his release along with two other hostages in the Gaza Strip
Mr Sharabi and Mr Ben Ami were both seized from kibbutz Be’eri, and Mr Levy was captured at the Nova music festival.
Steve Brisley said it looked like ‘the light has gone from his eyes’ after seeing his brother-in-law Mr Sharabi appear on screen with sunken cheeks, a shaved head and darkened eyes.
After watching the handover, he told BBC Breakfast: ‘It’s the whole sort of pendulum of emotions, from joy and relief through to heartache and everything in between, to finally have confirmation that he’s alive and he’s coming out is obviously what we’ve been working towards for the last 16 months.
‘To see him paraded in the way he was in that propaganda fashion was incredibly difficult.
‘To see the physical state of him, on the one hand, he’s upright and walking independently at least, but (he is) gaunt, thin, and I think just the light has gone from his eyes.’
Before captivity Mr Sharabi had always been a smiley and happy man, Steve Brisley said.
The family do not yet know what he will need to get him on the road to recovery but he will have to come to terms with the loss of his wife and two daughters.
Like with other released hostages, they expect Mr Sharabi to stay at a medical centre in central Tel Aviv, where the hospitals have essentially set up sort of hostage wings for the former hostages and their families so they can have some privacy.
A multi-disciplinary team of social workers, psychiatrists, dietitians and specialist clinicians are on hand to help with the physical and mental recovery.
The hostages’ emaciated condition and the stage-managed ceremony – a departure from previous hostage releases where the captives were not made to speak – sparked outrage in Israel.
An aerial view of the exchange taking place in Deir al Balah in central Gaza – in an enclave carved out by a circle of Hamas militants
The three hostages were handed over in exchange for more than 180 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom had been convicted of militant activities
A helicopter believed to be transporting the three freed Israeli hostages prepares to land in Tel Aviv. The trio will be given extensive care for their physical and mental health
More than 90 per cent of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed during the conflict with hundreds of thousands of displaced people living out of tents
Humanitarian agencies estimate that some 1.95million Palestinians in the region are facing food shortages
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said ‘we will not accept the shocking scenes’ that played out. The statement did not lay out punitive measures.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said the ‘difficult scenes’ were reason to extend the truce with Hamas and bring home the dozens of remaining hostages.
In response Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, claimed it had ‘made efforts to preserve their lives despite the (Israeli) bombardment’.
In Gaza, Palestinians were shuttled to freedom on buses, with some taken to hospital after their release, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent medical service.
Among those freed was Eyad Abu Shkaidem, sentenced to 18 life terms in Israel for masterminding suicide attacks in revenge for Israel’s 2004 assassinations of Hamas leaders.
‘Today, I am reborn,’ Shkaidem told reporters upon arrival in Ramallah, as the crowd cheered.
Many of the prisoners freed appeared in poor health and some complained of ill-treatment.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict.
Rights groups have reported grave abuses of Palestinians in Israeli detention since the start of the Gaza war.
The Israeli military is investigating several cases of alleged abuse but rejects allegations of systematic abuse within its detention facilities.
Raging on for almost 500 days, the Israel-Hamas war has claimed the lives of more than 1,600 Israelis, 1,200 of whom died on October 7.
The conflict has killed 47,000 Palestinians, according to figures reported by UN agency OCHA sourced from Israeli and Palestinian authorities.
Humanitarian bodies have warned of a crisis in Gaza, with 91 per cent of Gaza’s population, some 1.95million, facing food shortages and 92 per cent of homes in the territory – considered occupied under international law – destroyed or damaged.
The current ceasefire has been in place since January 19 – and has seen 13 Israeli and five Thai hostages exchanged for 583 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Under the ceasefire deal, 33 Israeli children, women and sick, wounded and older men are to be released during the first stage in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Negotiations on a second phase began this week aimed at returning the remaining hostages and agreeing a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in preparation for a final end to the war.
but has not been without controversy following the return of US president Donald Trump to the White House.
President Trump appeared to suggest that the US would take control of the Gaza Strip during a press conference with Mr Netanyahu, prompting fury from Middle Eastern nations and across the globe.
Arab states and Palestinian groups have rejected Trump’s proposal, which critics said would amount to ethnic cleansing.
But he doubled down on his social network, Truth Social, writing that the US would turn the territory over to Israel as Palestinians ‘would have been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities’.
However, world leaders restated their calls for a two-state solution to be found – while Hamas branded Trump’s plan ‘ridiculous and absurd’.
Saudi Arabia rejected any attempts to remove Palestinians from their land and said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had affirmed this position with Trump in ‘a clear and explicit manner’.
