84-Year-Old Former Hamas Hostage Discharged From Hospital: ‘I Ate Just Six Dates A Day In Captivity’

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — After five months recuperating in hospital, 85-year-old Alma Avraham, who was released in the November hostage exchange, left the Soroka hospital last week in good health.

In an Channel 12 interview, Avraham, who was rushed the hospital by helicopter suffering from a life threatening condition after her 51-day captivity, described her harrowing experiences and subsequent recovery.

“I feel good, slowly but surely. It feels a bit strange. Only yesterday I got home and haven’t got used to suddenly going back to the light. In the hospital it was very pleasant as the staff and families enveloped me with love and attention. It’s strange to go back to a normal life.

Alma described her abduction from Kibbutz Nahal Oz: “I pressed with all my might on the door of the safe room because it didn’t lock. In the end they pushed me back came in and took me by force. We went out got in a car and reached the front gate. We exited and they put me on a motorcycle. We traveled through Gaza via the fields. The motorcycle bounced a lot, it wasn’t pleasant.

“When I reached Gaza, a large crowd clapped their hands and tried to injure my arm which was already covered in bruises, until we reached a safe place, far away from the criminals who wanted to harm me. They transferred me from house to house, I was in four different houses.

“The first house was fine, there was a baby watching me the whole time. I was there for a day and then they dressed me in a Hijab  and took me somewhere else. I went through four houses until I was taken downstairs, underground.”

Alma described her harsh physical conditions. “I ate six dates every day, that’s all.” When asked about the scariest moment, she said that “I slept in a room with a small window. I feigned sleep and peeked through the window. There was a closet and guns behind it. At some point they took the guns and went up on the roof. They shot at anyone coming close.”