Freed hostage recalls starvation, captors stealing his food

Rescued hostage was forced to hide his meager food rations, which were regularly stolen by his captors, he told the New York Post in an exclusive interview.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

An Israeli grandfather who was rescued from Hamas captivity in a daring 2024 IDF operation recalled the prolonged starvation and psychological torture he endured, which included his captors stealing the little food he was given.

Luis Har, 72, was kidnapped alongside his family from a kibbutz adjacent to the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023. He was mostly held in an apartment building in a civilian area of Rafah, a city in the southern Strip.

At first, Har told the New York Post in an exclusive interview, there was a sufficient amount of food provided to the hostages. Har would cook meals for the other hostages held with him and for their captors.

After a few weeks, however, the amount of food given to the hostages was dramatically reduced.

“First there were no more eggs. Then there were fewer pitas. In the last days, it was just Fernando [Maman, Har’s brother-in-law] and me, and we shared one pita a day, half for Fernando and half for me,” he told the Post. They were forced to eat “a little piece of the pita at a time so there would be enough to last all day,” he said, adding that the two were only given a single liter of water to drink per day.

Despite the fact that Hamas seizes and stockpiles humanitarian aid, Har’s captors continuously stole the meager rations given to him and Maman.

Har said he had to hide a single pita provided to him and Maman because their captors would seize it, presumably to psychologically torture them.

“If there was just one pita, the [Hamas terrorist] would take it,” Har said. “We started hiding that one pita under a pillow.”

Har noted the effect of the starvation on his body, saying that he was constantly sluggish.

“When you don’t eat enough, when you don’t drink enough, your body does everything slowly,” he told the Post. “You move slowly. You talk slowly. You do everything slowly to stay alive.”