Before leaving, the Hamas operatives rigged the surrounding tunnels with explosives, to ensure that he would not make it out alive, should he try to flee.
When IDF troops entered the tunnels days later, al-Qadi was asked to identify himself.
According to the Kan public broadcaster, he was able to inform the IDF which parts of the surrounding tunnel system were booby-trapped.
Al-Qadi was rescued Tuesday as troops combed a tunnel network in southern Gaza in search of hostages, the IDF said.
At the start of his captivity, al-Qadi said he was held in an apartment above ground with several other hostages, but he was soon moved below ground.
“After about two months, the terrorists moved me to a tunnel,” he was quoted by Channel 12 as having said.
The information could not immediately be verified and there was no comment from the Israel Defense Forces or from the Hostage Families Forum.
“They treated him as an Israeli in every respect,” said Abu Madighem, adding that Al-Qadi “barely saw the sun” while a hostage.
The former mayor told the Wall Street Journal that some 20 Bedouin were killed by Hamas terrorists in Israel on October 7.
Hamas released 105 civilians during the truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that.
The terror operatives assigned to guard Farhan al-Qadi left two weeks before Israeli forces arrived to free him from the Gaza tunnels where he had spent the most of his eleven-and-a-half-month captivity, according to reports in Hebrew media on Wednesday, as fresh information about his period as a hosted by Hamas surfaced.
Reports state that after the sound of IDF Combat Engineering Corps drills could be heard nearby, al-Qadi’s captors left him alone in an underground room with nothing to eat but bread. To make sure he wouldn’t survive if he tried to escape, the Hamas agents set up explosives in the tunnels around the area before they left.
Al-Qadi was asked to provide his identity when IDF troops came through the tunnels a few days later. He replied, “Don’t shoot! I’m Farhan,” the Wall Street Journal said.
Shortly after his rescue on Tuesday, he called President Isaac Herzog and said, “I heard Hebrew outside the door, I couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe it.”.
The public broadcaster Kan claims that he was able to tell the IDF which sections of the nearby tunnel system were booby-trapped.
According to the IDF, Al-Qadi was freed on Tuesday while soldiers searched a network of tunnels in southern Gaza for hostages. He worked as a security guard at a packaging plant in Kibbutz Magen, close to the Gaza border, when he was kidnapped on October 7.
The 52-year-old Bedouin father of 11 children described to Channel 12 in a testimony that he spent the majority of his 326 days in captivity in total darkness within the tunnels.
Al-Qadi claimed that when he was first taken prisoner, he and the other captives were kept in an apartment above ground, but he was soon transferred below ground.
He was quoted by Channel 12 as saying, “After about two months, the terrorists moved me to a tunnel.”. “There, I was by myself with just the terrorists surrounding me.”. I was unaware that day and night were different. “.
“There was very little food—the terrorists were masked and gave me slices of bread,” the man claimed. It was so dark that I had to cover my eyes with my hands to make sure I could still see. It was completely dark. “.
He said he was only allowed to take a shower once a month.
Channel 12 news earlier on Wednesday cited al-Qadi’s brother Jamal as saying that when al-Qadi refused to tell the terrorists where there were Jews, they shot him in the leg.
According to the network, al-Qadi’s wound in Gaza was treated without anesthetic using just a needle and thread.
Al-Qadi had been held for two months at the beginning of his captivity, before being moved underground, with a Jewish man, whom he had seen die, a former mayor of Rahat named Ata Abu Madighem told Channel 12 on Tuesday. It was not possible to confirm the information right away, and neither the Israel Defense Forces nor the Hostage Families Forum responded.
“They treated him as an Israeli in every respect,” said Abu Madighem, adding that Al-Qadi “barely saw the sun” while a hostage.
Twenty Bedouin were killed on October 7 in Israel by Hamas terrorists, the former mayor told the Wall Street Journal. A week-long truce in November freed two Bedouin teenagers; four Bedouin are thought to be among the remaining hostages, one of whom the IDF has confirmed is dead.
Of the 251 hostages that Hamas kidnapped on October 7, it is thought that 104 are still in Gaza, including the bodies of 34 that the IDF has declared dead. A total of 1,200 people were killed in the shock attack, which saw thousands of terrorists led by Hamas storm southern Israel.
During the truce that ended in late November, Hamas freed 105 civilians; four hostages had already been freed. Troops have managed to free eight hostages while they were still alive, and they have also recovered the bodies of thirty hostages—three of whom were accidentally killed by the military while attempting to free themselves from their captors.
In addition, the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014 are being held by Hamas, along with two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015.
