'We were very afraid': Former hostage speaks about surviving Hamas captivity in Gaza
CBC
A former hostage, who was rescued by the Israeli military in February, is describing how he survived 129 days in captivity in Gaza.
On Oct. 7, Argentine-Israeli Luis Har was taken hostage by the Palestinian militant group Hamas from a kibbutz near the Gaza border, along with his partner Clara Marman, Clara's brother Fernando Marman, Clara's sister Gabriela Leimberg and Gabriela's daughter, 17-year-old Mia Leimberg.
"They take us brutally, we were very afraid [for] our lives," he said in an interview with Rosemary Barton Live, describing how armed men broke into the house. "They take us with the car to Gaza."
Har told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton that, while in captivity, they tried to keep quiet and avoid anything that would make the guards nervous, because they knew Hamas wasn't afraid to shoot. They couldn't leave the room they were in and had to ask permission to go to the bathroom.
"It's very difficult to be in this situation.... The possibility if you talk no good or say something, maybe they shoot you," he said. "We were very afraid."
Israel says 253 people were taken hostage by Hamas and other militant groups as part of the attack on Oct. 7. Since then, over 100 hostages have been released, most of them as part of a temporary ceasefire deal in November.
All of the women in Har's family were released as part of that deal, including 17-year-old Mia Leimberg and her dog Bella.
"It was difficult. I held [Bella] all the way there. It was an extra four kilos. And I'm just lucky enough that I managed to keep her through that whole situation and bring her back," Leimberg told Reuters in December.
Months later, on Feb. 12, Har and Fernando Marman were finally rescued in an overnight raid by the Israel Defence Forces in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. At 2 o'clock in the morning, Har heard explosions. He thought the IDF was bombing the building they were in.
"We listen in Hebrew ... the soldiers call my name and say to me, 'It's OK, Luis, it's OK, we are the army, we're coming to take you home,'" he said.
Israel launched a military offensive in Hamas-run Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 cross-border attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli officials. Israel's assault on Gaza has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 80,000, most of them civilians, health officials in Gaza say.
Israel says more than 130 hostages remain in Gaza. Protesters have been taking to the streets across the country calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal that would bring them home. The Netanyahu government has insisted it will not stop the war until Hamas is destroyed and all the hostages are returned.
Har says he doesn't want to tell the government what to do, but he believes the most important thing is to bring the hostages back home. "It's so difficult to be there. No medicines, and no food.... I don't know how many people there are still alive, it's so hard."
Har says being held hostage in Gaza for 129 days changed him as a person.
Gregor Chisholm was a nine-year-old in Saint John when the Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series in 1992, and it had a profound impact on his choice of career.
Leaping out of a plane more than 4,200 metres in the air, Simon-Pierre Bouchard can’t control his excitement as he opens his parachute and wonders if everyone has gotten into place.
The Hudson's Bay Company vanished in June, when the last of its stores ceased operations, but its presence in Winnipeg might never be fully erased.
At a Prince Albert public library branch, the usual quiet is replaced with the sound of children laughing and lining up for autographs as Prince Albert Raiders players settle in for an evening of reading.
When a fire broke out at the Charlottetown Farmers’ Market in the early hours of Christmas Day, John Bell was among the first on scene.
For the first time in 20 years, Edmonton’s police chief is a local hire.
One of the most popular hot springs in northeastern B.C. appears to be cooling off — or at the very least feeling that way — according to First Nations researchers who have been taking the temperature of the popular spot off the Alaska Highway.
No longer do the waves of Lake Timmicaca lap against car bumpers.
Municipal councils across Essex County and in Chatham-Kent and Sarnia have spent this year’s budget season trying to keep tax increases manageable while battling inflation and soaring policing costs and weighing the immediate cost of repairing aging infrastructure against the long-term cost of holding off.
Construction on Marda Loop’s main streets project may have quieted down, but redevelopment work continues at several locations along 34th Avenue. This time, the focus is on preserving the street’s history.
As both the provincial and federal governments hone in on mining opportunities in northern Ontario, supporting local industries and building safer highways are top of mind for regional leaders this year.
Tucked inside Toronto’s leafy, quiet and private residential neighbourhoods are facades that tell the story of another time in the city’s urban planning history.
Ontario’s two main opposition parties will try to turn the page on what was a difficult year, with one rebuilding after an underwhelming leadership vote result and another searching for a new person to take the party helm.