An explosion woke Louis Har in the middle of the night and he rolled off his mattress seeking cover.
“On the way I even asked one of the soldiers — ‘Tell me, are you sure we’re not in a movie?’ Because I wasn’t sure.
Is it real, is it not real?” Har said.
“Even today, I don’t know what is real and what is not.” Har, now 71, was taken hostage in Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel.
Har and his partner’s 61-year-old brother, Fernando Marman, were held in a building in the southern city of Rafah until their rescue in February.
Every day that passes is terrible.” Israel has said it will not end its war on Hamas until they are all freed.
Har said he at times wakes up in the middle of the night thinking of his captors.
“It’s impossible to just forget about it, like now I’m in Israel and we’re done.
Louis Har rolled off his mattress in search of cover when an explosion startled him in the middle of the night. This was it, he thought, expecting the structure that was holding him to crumble.
And there was gunfire, lots of it. “It’s the IDF, we’ve come to take you home,” was yelled, along with his name. “.
Upon being freed from Hamas captivity on February 12, Har remarked that his experience felt surreal.
I even questioned a soldier along the way, saying, ‘Tell me, are you sure we’re not in a movie?’ I wasn’t sure. Many things had transpired. “Is it real or not?” Har questioned. I’m not sure what is real or not even now. “.
When Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, Har, who is currently 71 years old, was kidnapped. He was taken to Gaza at gunpoint from a house in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak along with four other relatives, including his partner’s teenage niece who had brought her dog.
A week-long truce in November saw the release of the three female hostages. Before being saved in February, Har and Fernando Marman, his partner’s 61-year-old brother, were detained in a building in the southern city of Rafah.
He remembered them passing the days exchanging ideas about what to cook or upcoming trips. He claimed that during depressive episodes, they would withdraw inside themselves and stop speaking and smiling.
It was then that he pictured himself interacting and having fun with his grandchildren. and having them embrace you.
“My body experienced it.”. Then the tears would begin to fall,” he remarked.
Har talked to Reuters from the Forum of Families of Hostages in Gaza headquarters in Tel Aviv. His community’s citizens have not yet gone back to their homes, unlike thousands of other evacuees from Israeli border towns.
The return of the remaining 130 hostages taken that day, he stated, is what matters most for the time being.
“Stop causing suffering to their families,” he uttered. It must be done immediately. Every day that goes by is dreadful. “.
Israeli officials have declared that their war on Hamas won’t stop until all of them are free.
Sometimes in the middle of the night, Har claimed he wakes up thinking about his captors. or that an unpleasant memory may be triggered by a loud noise.
“Even though I’m in Israel now, we can’t just put it behind us and move on. No, it is internal. “.
