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Hostage Crisis

Former hostage pleas for fellow captives: They can't do basic things like shower and wash themselves

A former hostage reveals what life in Hamas captivity is like - and why she won't rest until all the captives come home.

People walk at "Hostage Square" in Tel Aviv, May 7, 2024.  background
Photo: Miriam Alster/FLASH90

A Mako report quoted former hostage Moran Stela Yanai, who spent 54 days in Gaza after being taken captive during the October 7 massacre. Yanai (40) a jewelry designer who was exhibiting her art at the Nova festival where about 350 revelers were butchered by Hamas, was released on November 29 as part of a temporary truce brokered by the US and Qatar.

"As humans, we don't even think about the basic things like showering, washing our face and hands, getting up from the mattress and walking five steps across the room. There is no such option. No human being has the can survive that," she told the network.

Yanai also says that one of the hardest things hostages have to cope with is the lack of clarity regarding their future. "They constantly have to look the terrorists in the eyes and even when you close your eyes you still see them. They don't know if they will live or die, if [there will be] food and water," she reveals.

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The former hostage was asked if she's making progress in her recovery. "I can say that I'm 'okay,' but only because there's really no word to describe the feeling" she says. "It's not that I'm in a quick recovery, but I'm not in any kind of neglect either. I take care of myself, support myself and am there for myself."

But Yanai also says she won't rest until all the hostages come home. "Only when everyone returns home will we all have a long recovery process," she points out.

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