Rescued hostage was found abandoned in booby-trapped Gaza tunnel

Farhan al-Qadi spent some eight months in the dark with only his captors for company, living almost entirely off of bread.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Recently rescued Arab-Israeli hostage Farhan al-Qadi had been abandoned in a booby-trapped tunnel some two weeks before IDF soldiers found him on Tuesday, Kan News reported Wednesday.

The report said that he told security officials that his captors fled from the tunnel where he was being held after hearing the drilling of IDF engineering tools nearby.

He also said that before escaping, the captors scattered explosive charges in the tunnel to draw the soldiers in further, with the intention of then blowing up the passageway.

The report did not say how he survived the two weeks alone.

Keshet News reported that when he was first captured the 52-year-old Bedouin Muslim said he was taken to an apartment where he saw another captive being filmed by terrorists as he lay dying.

“Immediately after that I was also photographed, and then I saw how he was murdered in captivity,” the report cited him as saying. “During that period, I had surgery to remove the bullet that was in my leg. The surgery was almost without anesthetics – and it hurt a lot.”

“After about two months, the terrorists transferred me to a tunnel, where I was alone, with only terrorists around me,” he continued. “I didn’t know the difference between day and night.”

Al-Qadi lost a significant amount of  weight while in captivity, as he survived only small portions of bread and at times went days without food, he told his family members who rushed to the hospital to see him upon his arrival.

He had spent most of his time either praying or sleeping, they told the press, while “constantly thinking about his family.”

The IDF had received intelligence information that there were hostages in tunnels in the area and special forces were searching a compound of several underground passages when they came upon al-Qadi in a locked side room.

They had not received a tip about him specifically.

When he heard people speaking Hebrew outside his room, he shouted out, “It’s me, Farhan, don’t shoot.”

Al-Qadi spent only one day in Soroka Hospital to be checked by the medical staff before getting the green light to return to his home in Rahat, as he was in surprisingly good medical condition although extremely thin.

He had asked to be released as quickly as possible so that he could see his 90-year-old mother, who awaited him at home.

Al-Qadi’s siblings had tried at first to hide the news of his abduction from her, fearing that she would not be able to take the news, they said, but eventually had to tell her the truth.

His brother, Juma, told Ynet that she was full of faith that her son would return.

Last week, he said, she told him that she felt that Farhan was alive and well, but worried about her.

“She saw in her dreams that he was fine and he was shot in the leg,” he said. “The whole time she gave us messages. These are amazing things. She told us to relax, not to talk to anyone, and that God is with us.”

When Farhan saw her on Wednesday after 327 days in captivity, Juma said, “The first thing he did was kiss her feet and tell her, ‘For my part, after this I’m ready to die. This was my dream.’”

A massive celebration awaited him in his hometown when he arrived, but he did not forget his fellow hostages who are still languishing in captivity in Gaza.

“I feel 100%, I’m with you another 200%, no problem, but I’m not at peace with my joy,” he told the press. “I saw that there are hostages. It doesn’t matter if they are Arabs or Jews, they have family waiting for them who also want to be happy. So I hope and pray that this thing comes to an end. I don’t wish on anyone to be in the place I was.”

He said that he had had almost no access to the news, and even when he did it was not necessarily a good thing.

“For example, there were negotiations in Cairo. You live with that for a few days until, I don’t know, they didn’t come to an agreement. This can kill you,” he explained.

Farhan Al-Qadihamas hostageIDF rescueIsrael-Hamas war