Last Updated:
Eli Sharabi, freed after 490 days in Hamas captivity, returned home only to learn that his wife, daughters, and brother were killed in the October 7 attack.
Eli Sharabi, a hostage held in Gaza since the deadly October 7, 2023 attack (Photo: Reuters)
Fifty-two-year-old Eli Sharabi was one of the three hostages who were freed in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel as part of a ceasefire in Gaza. Their release prompted cheers from those watching in Tel Aviv, but Sharabi’s happiness was short-lived as his comeback gave him a much deeper pain.
While the hostage celebrated his release and could not wait to see his family, it was only after his return home, that he was told that his wife, two daughters, and his brother were killed on October 7, the day Hamas attacked Israel.
Before his release, Sharabi, as filmed by BBC, was heard saying, “I am very happy today to return to my wife and daughters.”
His release also triggered other emotions for his family members, who had suppressed their grief by focusing their energies on securing his freedom.
They had hoped that he was told beforehand so that he wouldn’t have to process that grief after surviving 490 days in captivity.
As Eli Sharabi’s parents-in-law Gillian Brisley and her husband, Pete, watched his release from captivity on Saturday morning, she clutched a teddy bear to her chest.
It was a reminder of everything the family has suffered since Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing their daughter, Lianne Sharabi, and teenage granddaughters, Noiya and Yahel, while taking son-in-law Eli Sharabi hostage.
Eli’s brother Yossi was also killed.
The stuffed toy, which once belonged to Lianne, was a tangible link between the Brisleys and events in the Middle East as they watched the hostage handover unfold on TV at their home in South Wales.
“While Gill was crying, she was holding on to the teddy bear, which was Lianne’s from the age of about 10 years old and which we were lucky enough to find on Kibbutz Be’eri when we went to the house,” Pete Brisley was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
“When we went to the house, it was filthy, bullet holes everywhere. So we tidied up the house, tidied up the garden, so if Eli wanted to come home to it, then it looks reasonable because it was an absolute shambles,” he added.
Even that simple cleanup was an act of faith because the family had received no word on Sharabi at all since the militants took him back to Gaza with more than 200 other hostages.
Out of nowhere, the Brisleys were told Friday that Sharabi was to be one of three hostages released the next day. So they got up early Saturday morning to see their son-in-law walk free.
The moment was bittersweet. They were thrilled that he was finally free but horrified by the pale, emaciated figure they saw on TV. This wasn’t the swarthy, robust man they last saw 18 months ago. The spark that always glinted in his eyes was gone.
“He looks as though he’s been to Belsen,” Pete Brisley said, referring to the World War II concentration camp.
When asked how she felt, Gillian Brisley said she was relieved he was free. However, there was more to say, AP quoted her as saying.
“The emotion of seeing him also then brought the grief of losing our girls right up to our throats,” she said.
“We just sat here and we cried. We cried for our loss. We cried with relief that Eli was on his way home. We cried for Yossi. Just, you know, mixed emotions,” she added.
Then there’s the continuing concern for Sharabi.
HAMAS FREES THREE HOSTAGES
Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday handed over three Israeli hostages whose gaunt appearance shocked Israelis, and Israel began freeing dozens of Palestinians in the latest stage of a ceasefire aimed at ending the war in Gaza.
Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi, who were taken hostage from Kibbutz Be’eri during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and Or Levy, who was abducted that day from the Nova music festival, were led onto a Hamas podium by gunmen.
The three men appeared thin, weak and pale, in worse condition than the 18 other hostages already freed under the truce agreed in January after 15 months of war.
They were driven in ICRC cars to Israeli forces and into Israel, where they had tearful reunions with family members, and flown to hospitals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the sight of the frail hostages was shocking and would be addressed.
