Freed Hostage Eli Sharabi: “Hamas Ate Five Meals a Day While We Starved”

Eli Sharabi, recently freed after 491 days in Hamas captivity, gave a harrowing interview this week, revealing the daily torment he and other hostages endured from purposeful starvation to psychological abuse, humiliation, and unimaginable personal loss.

Speaking to Piers Morgan, Sharabi described the inhumane conditions of his captivity in chilling detail. “We ate one meal a day, maybe a piece and a half of dry pita. Hamas ate five meals a day in front of us,” he said. “It was hell for me like for all the hostages.”

Sharabi’s survival, he said, was anchored in a single hope: that one day he would be released. “That belief kept me alive,” he added. “I held on to it every day.”

On October 7, 2023, Sharabi was at home in the family’s safe room with his wife, Leanne, and daughters Noya and Yahel, along with their dog, when Hamas terrorists invaded their home during the massacre that shocked the world.

“We made the fateful decision not to fight back,” he recalled. “Leanne and the girls had British passports. We thought that would protect them.”

It was only after his release that he learned the devastating truth: Hamas had murdered Leanne, Noya, and Yahel that same morning.

Two days before his own release, a Hamas commander informed Sharabi that his brother Yossi, who had also been abducted, had died in captivity. Just this week, Yossi’s body was returned to Israel.

“It was very important for us to bring him back and bury him,” Sharabi said. “Now we have a grave to cry on. His wife and daughters now have a place to go and be with him.”

Sharabi extended heartfelt thanks to U.S. President Donald Trump and Envoy Steve Witkoff, crediting them for the diplomatic pressure that ultimately secured his release and that of the other hostages. “They pushed hard,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Netanyahu also fulfilled his promise to bring them home.

In his final message, Sharabi’s words were simple, yet profound: “We want to live in peace and quiet. And I think we deserve it after two years. Maybe now we can start to heal from our trauma.”

The cost of survival has never been more visible. The courage of survivors like Eli Sharabi now lights the path forward from trauma to healing, and from captivity to home.

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