Hostage told Hamas crowd he hoped to see wife and daughters after release – suggesting he didn't know they were killed on 7 October

Sky News

08-02-2025

A released Israeli hostage told a Hamas crowd he hoped to see his wife and daughters after his release - suggesting he did not know they had been killed on 7 October.
Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy were the latest hostages freed this morning in front of a crowd of heavily armed fighters.
Both Mr Ami, 56, and Mr Sharabi, 52, were taken from Kibbutz Be'eri during the 7 October attack. Mr Levy, 34, was abducted from the Nova music festival.
It was not known if Mr Sharabi was aware his wife and children had been killed by Hamas over a year ago. His Bristol-born wife Lianne Sharabi, along with their children 16-year-old Noiya and 13-year-old Yahel, were killed while Mr Sharabi and his brother Yossi were taken hostage.
Yossi was later killed while in captivity.
Mr Sharabi was paraded on a podium by armed Hamas personnel and interviewed before his release earlier today.
In one of his answers, which was clearly given under duress, he said he was hoping to see his wife and daughters very soon, according to translations provided by our US partner NBC News.
Mr Sharabi also told the crowd he was aware of brother's death and said he was "very angry" with the Israeli government.
All three hostages made similar critical comments about Israel while on stage with the armed men.
The comments came as Stephen Brisley, Mr Sharabi's brother-in-law, told our presenter Anna Jones this morning that he wasn't sure if he had found out about his family's fate.
"All the way through this, we've wondered whether what's kept him going is the prospect of being reunited with Lianne and the girls," he said.
He described his brother-in-law as looking "skinny" and "gaunt".
"You could see how skinny he is, how pale he is. You wonder how much daylight he's seen - very gaunt face," he said.
"I think what struck me the most is that Eli has a very happy face, he smiles with his whole face and smiles with his eyes and it was the lack of light in his eyes that I think is one of the most distressing parts of it."
Photos after his release showed Mr Sharabi reunite with his wider family.
Mr Sharabi's brother-in-law Stephen Brisley told Sky News' Breakfast with Anna Jones:
Mr Brisley added: "You don't know what the last 491 days have done to him, but it's clearly had an incredible impact on him, and it was written all over his face."
The Israeli hostages were made to speak in an apparently staged interview by Hamas militants before being handed over to the International Red Cross Committee, which transported them to Israeli forces in Gaza.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: "We will not accept the shocking scenes that we saw today."
In return for the captives' release, 183 Palestinian prisoners were released - some of which were convicted of being involved in attacks that killed dozens of people.
A bus carrying several dozen Palestinian prisoners from Israel's Ofer prison arrived in the occupied West Bank, where their families and friends were waiting.
Our Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall said some of the prisoners also looked to be in a "very bad condition".
Some 18 Israeli hostages and more than 550 Palestinian prisoners have been freed since the ceasefire began on 19 January.
Under the deal, 33 Israeli hostages are to be released in an initial stage in exchange for almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Negotiations on a second phase of the deal began this week. It is aimed at returning the remaining hostages and agreeing to a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in preparation to end the war.
It is feared US President Donald Trump's proposal to move the Palestinian population out of Gaza so the US could take over could complicate the second and more difficult phase of the ceasefire.
Hamas's cross-border attack into Israel saw around 1,200 Israelis killed and around 250 people taken hostage.
Since then Israel's war in Gaza has killed more than 47,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.