Freed Israeli hostage says she met a Hamas leader in a tunnel, where she was kept in dire conditions

A 72-year-old Israeli woman held captive by Hamas militants for nearly 50 days has told an Israeli TV channel that she was held at length in a dark, humid tunnel where she met Hamas' top leader in Gaza

JERUSALEM -- A 72-year-old Israeli woman held captive by Hamas militants for nearly 50 days told an Israeli TV channel Wednesday that she was held at length in a dark, humid tunnel where she met a Hamas leader and helped pass the time with an informal lecture series by her knowledgeable fellow hostages.

Adina Moshe was taken captive from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a hard-hit communal farming village, on Oct. 7. She was freed in late November as part of a deal that saw roughly 100 hostages, mostly women and children, released in exchange for a temporary cease-fire and the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Her account to Israeli Channel 12 TV comes as efforts are underway to bring about a new deal that could free the remaining 100 or so captives. It also sheds new light on the difficult conditions that hostages endured while in Hamas captivity, where Yehya Sinwar, Hamas’ top leader in Gaza, visited Moshe and a group of fellow hostages deep underground, she said.

“Hello. How are you? Everything OK?” Moshe said Sinwar told them in the Hebrew he had learned during a long incarceration in Israel. She said the hostages bowed their heads and did not respond. Another visit followed three weeks later, she said.

Moshe said militants raided the home she shared with her husband, David, who was shot in the leg. They snatched her out from the window of her house’s safe room and another militant went back in to shoot her husband dead, she said. Before being killed, he blew her a farewell kiss, she said.