Be’eri residents released from Hamas captivity return to kibbutz for first time

Hostages released from Hamas captivity returned for the first time to Kibbutz Be’eri, as they look to move on from the memories of October 7 and the nightmare in Gaza. 

Hila Rotem entered her house carefully, asking her aunt to stand by her side next to the broken kitchen countertop while she collected, from among the charred objects, the ones that were important for her to take. “It was sad to see the house. I took things that were important to my grandfather, who died when I was nine. Some broke, but I took what remained,” she said.

Amit Shani, along with Raaya, Hila’s mother, and the members of the Sharabi family – Oren, Ofir, Yuval, and Nira – visited the kibbutz as well, talking about what they went through on October 7 and during captivity.

Through no choice of their own, and while their relatives remain captive in Gaza, they have become prominent ambassadors in the fight to bring back the remaining hostages. Walking between the remnants of their homes, the former Be'eri residents tried to digest what they were seeing. Despite the complexities, they remained adamant in sharing their feelings and speaking of the trauma they had been through.

Ambassadors to bring the hostages back 

Shay Hagai, 19, returned to live in his house a few weeks ago along with a dozen other residents. Since then, he has been guiding media tours. “I went crazy in Ein Gedi [where some Gaza border area residents were originally evacuated to hotels]. Everyone here does something different with their time. I started by working at the print,  then moved to the hasbara team. I still don’t dare to walk around at night.”

Sharon Sharabi, whose two brothers are being held in Gaza, sat outside one of their homes. In one of the rooms, Sharon said: “Normally I would have said: ‘Welcome to the home of Eli and Lian Sharabi. Today I say, welcome to the history of the people of Israel.’ This is a war zone. In this small space, Lian, Noya, and Yahel were murdered. Our family was slaughtered.

“The images are not even a sliver of what happened, but all people should make a pilgrimage to see them. They tried to exterminate Israelis; they took Eli and Yossi out of the bomb shelter to Gaza. This connects all of October 7. I hope this evidence resonates in every heart. Our grandfathers survived the Holocaust, and our generation has experienced another one. Document these moments. They will not return.”

Recounting captivity 

Amit Shani, 16, who was returned from captivity in Gaza recounted: “that Saturday I was in the bomb shelter, it started as a normal red alert that didn’t excite us too much. We then received an intrusion alert. It got worse, we heard grenades and RPGs, they entered the house, broke things, took us out, and sat us on the edge of the sidewalk.”

He said that in Gaza, he felt an “endless longing and a huge sense of abandonment. Everyone there is afraid of the bombings and the terrorists, and you don’t know if you will wake up the next day. They were abandoned once, and they don’t deserve to be abandoned a second time.”

Hila Rotem, standing outside of her destroyed home, said that her 50 days in captivity were “hard, in the dark, without enough food and water. We were not allowed to talk, only to whisper; the booming didn’t stop. We moved from place to place, we were with hostages. After 50 days, they took Emily and me, separating me from my mother, for the release. I was afraid something would happen to her. On the bus to Israel, they asked if I could guess who I was going to meet. I was afraid my Uncle Yaya died, so I listed other names. In captivity, we planned what we would do on his birthday. I didn’t think he would be without his mother. After a few days, they announced that she was coming back; I waited for her all night. I don’t stop thinking about those who are still there. Every day felt like an eternity.”

Her mother, Raaya, said, “On October 7, I was with my daughter and Emily, her friend, who came to sleep at our house. It took six hours for them to reach us. They opened the door of the bomb shelter with guns and knives drawn, grabbed my shirt, and said in Arabic: ‘You are going to Gaza.’ Security forces weren’t there. All the gunshots were from the terrorists. The road to Gaza was completely open. In my heart, I already thought it would take a long time.”

She said that in captivity conditions “were not easy. We were a few hostages together and were moved from house to house. A few days ago, I ate an orange, and I remembered the small orange that we divided in captivity into several parts, a piece or two for each one. Sometimes it is better not to taste the food anymore. Time is running out in terms of food and drink [for the remaining hostages], but also in terms of physical conditions, the danger of shelling, and the patience of the terrorists. Hila and I think a lot about those who were with us there. The situation was fragile, and now it is even more so.”

Ten members of the kibbutz are still held in Gaza. Oren Sharabi, 13, whose father Yossi was kidnapped, returned to Be’eri for the first time on Monday.

“It scared me to come here,” she said. “After what we went through here, it’s hard for me to be here, I was afraid to come, but I face the fear because the scariest thing is that my father has been in Gaza for 87 days. On October 6, my father promised me that we would play football on Saturday night. But we woke up to a different world. When the terrorists arrived at the house, my father held the door of the bomb shelter, stopping them the first time. The second time, he could not. I hid under the covers. I heard the terrorists laughing; they told us to follow them, I saw how they tied up our father and our neighbor. My father did not take his eyes off my mother. Then suddenly the terrorists left.”

She added: “My father is everything to me. Every second is precious. I’m waiting for the football practice we planned.”

Eli Sharabi’s niece, Ofir, said: “It was difficult for me to come here today. But I need to talk about my uncle Eli. You can always count on him to help. Eli was married to Lian, she and the girls were everything to him. Noya, Yael, and Lian were murdered that Saturday. I don’t know if Eli knows they won’t wait for him, but we are here, waiting to hug him.”