On Saturday, as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, the terror group released three more Israeli hostages in exchange for prisoners, and their physical condition is shocking to behold.
FINALLY FREE: Hamas terrorists release three more hostages in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners as part of a ceasefire agreement with Israel. https://t.co/FBFdWwuJms pic.twitter.com/m7CQK7p5Hr
— Fox News (@FoxNews) February 8, 2025
Released hostage Or Levy reunites with his family near the Gaza border. pic.twitter.com/asYI7rvAjy
— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) February 8, 2025
One of the hostages Hamas has released, Eli Sharabi, was taken prisoner on Oct. 7th, 2023 - after Hamas savages murdered his family. Now, he's back home, with his few remaining loved ones.
Sharabi was held hostage by Hamas for 491 days.
Sharabi and his family lived on Kibbutz Be’eri, a border community in southern Israel that was hit particularly hard on Oct. 7, 2023. In January 2024, just months after Hamas’ attacks, Israel confirmed that Sharabi’s brother, Yossi, who was also taken hostage, was killed in captivity.
Kibbutz Be’eri saw 98 men, women and children slaughtered in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks and 30 kidnapped. Among them were Sharabi and Ohad Ben-Ami, who was also released on Feb. 8, 2025. The kidnapped and killed accounted for approximately a tenth of the population of Kibbutz Be’eri, which is less than four miles from the Gaza border.
It is unclear whether Sharabi knows what happened to his wife, Lianne, and daughters, Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13. It is also unknown whether Or Levy, who was taken from the Nova festival and released to Israel on Saturday, is aware that his wife was killed on Oct. 7, 2023.
The specifics of his medical condition has not been released, but, well, look:
Eli Sharabi returns home, starved, pale, skin and bones, after 491 days.
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) February 8, 2025
His entire family was slaughtered: his wife, his two daughters, his brother and even his dog.
Make no mistake, this is a modern-day Holocaust story.
The world stood by and allowed it to happen, again. pic.twitter.com/ahcjO3nIAU
It is belaboring the obvious to note that taking civilian hostages, then torturing and starving them, are not the acts of civilized people. We should note that Hamas is not a military force; they are armed irregulars, francs-tireurs under the laws of war, and technically subject to summary execution upon capture by the armed forces of Israel. Israel is not doing this, which only serves to point up the distinctions of acts by a civilized nation as opposed to barbarians.
See Related: Israel Orders Buses Bearing Exchanged Terrorists Back to Prison After Sick Hamas Display
Israel is exchanging dozens, even hundreds of captured Hamas members in exchange for each Israeli citizen redeemed from captivity. It's always been this way; Israel (and the United States) will generally go to great lengths to get their people back, and it's a safe bet that the prisoners Israel is exchanging for hostages held by Hamas are clean and well-fed.
Hamas still holds more hostages, including Israelis, the Fox News story linked above reported:
There are still 76 hostages in Hamas captivity, many of whom are believed to be alive. So far, as part of the current ceasefire deal, Hamas has released 18 hostages. In exchange for the hostages, Israel has released more than 550 Palestinian prisoners.
This is further proof that we are not engaged in a clash of civilizations. We are engaged in a clash of civilization vs. barbarity. There is no other way to describe it. And there will be no peace in that part of the world until Hamas and Hezbollah are no longer a factor.
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