Jerusalem — Early on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, Ohad Ben Ami heard the alarm go off in his neighborhood of Kibbutz Be’eri. He and his spouse bumped into their dwelling’s protected room, the place they shortly realized that one thing uncommon was taking place.
On his cellphone, Ben Ami might see that alarms had been sounding at different, close by kibbutzim. There have been additionally stories of airborne assaults. He shut the cellphone off to keep away from panicking.
About quarter-hour later, he heard individuals exterior.
“Then I perceive that it is vitally extreme, and it is not solely missile assault. It is one thing rather more sophisticated,” Ben Ami stated.
He began receiving messages from neighbors who instructed him that attackers had entered their homes. So he crawled from his protected room to attempt to safe the doorways to his dwelling. Then, he was shot.
As he retreated to his protected room, attackers adopted him. They simply opened the door behind him, which was solely meant to guard these inside from projectiles or flames and couldn’t be locked.
Once they entered, Ben Ami’s spouse was hidden, so Ben Ami instructed them he was alone.
“I used to be positive I will be lifeless,” he stated.
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However in contrast to lots of his neighbors that day at Kibbutz Be’eri, Ben Ami wasn’t killed. Loaded into the again seat of a automobile, he was taken to Gaza, the place he would spend 491 days in captivity.
“In my thoughts, I am down there”
Throughout his time as a hostage, Ben Ami was moved from residence to residence. Many didn’t have working water or functioning bathrooms.
“The situations had been very, very dangerous. Very dangerous. On a regular basis, the IDF [Israeli military] is bombing. So we’re very afraid to die from our bombs,” Ben Ami stated.
Generally he was held with different hostages, together with — for a time — his spouse Raz Ben Ami, who had been captured as properly. She was freed within the first hostage and prisoner change deal between Israel and Hamas later in 2023.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty 
Ben Ami was moved beneath floor, into the Hamas tunnel community, the place he stated there was no gentle, little or no meals, and the sanitary situations had been extraordinarily poor.
He was put into an space with two different hostages, Elkaha Bohbot and Bar Kuperstein. Three extra Israeli captives joined them, however the quantity of meals they obtained didn’t improve.
“On a regular basis, we’re hungry. We’re very nervous. We attempt to wrestle and to get used to the scenario,” he stated.
The group started to shed weight, attempting to divide very restricted meals amongst them. However regardless of the dire situations, Ben Ami managed to maintain going.
“They [Hamas] allow us to see tv quarter-hour as soon as in a month … so we noticed that the individuals in Israel are combating for us,” he stated. “They [Hamas] instructed us that our authorities don’t desire us again. The military, Israeli military, is trying to kill us. The Israeli authorities will not pay the worth. And our households are quiet. However once we noticed on the TV that each one of Israel exit… this give us hope. Give us a whole lot of hope to proceed and be robust.”
In February this yr, Ben Ami was launched as a part of the final hostage and prisoner change deal, however his companions weren’t.
Jehad Alshrafi/AP 
“Once I consider the 5 of my associates and all of the 48 hostages which can be nonetheless down there, I am very, very apprehensive for them,” Ben Ami stated. “I really like my nation, and I really like the individuals, however our authorities is disconnected. And till now, I’ve the sensation of insult. I really feel that they deserted me.”
As negotiations are underway in Egypt on a deal that would probably see the discharge of all of the remaining hostages, Ben Ami says he is hopeful.
“I communicate and I speak — however in my thoughts, I am down there. So till they arrive again, all of the 48, I can’t dwell. I am nonetheless a hostage. I am a free man, however not in my soul,” he stated. “I ask all the edges to go to the center after which … to shake palms and end it and convey (dwelling) all of the hostages. To provide our nation the time to recuperate, and likewise the Palestinians. Additionally they must recuperate from all this factor that occurred.”
