‘So grateful’ – Rescued Muslim hostage thanks Israel, IDF

The IDF “is doing holy work,” Al-Qadi stressed, thanking the soldiers for “risking their lives” to rescue him.

By World Israel News Staff

An Arab-Muslim citizen of Israel rescued from Hamas captivity by IDF soldiers on Tuesday thanked the State of Israel and its military for saving his life.

Farhan Al-Qadi, from the Bedouin town of Rahat, was kidnapped from his place of work at a kibbutz in southern Israel by Hamas terrorists on October 7th.

A married father of 11 children, 52-year-old Al-Qadi was extracted from a subterranean tunnel some 25 meters (82 feet) underground by Israeli soldiers.

He was flown by helicopter to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, where he was hospitalized in stable condition for observation.

While he appeared gaunt, Al-Qadi was said to be in high spirits and generally good health.

During a phone conversation with President Isaac Herzog, Al-Qadi expressed his deep gratitude towards the Jewish State for rescuing him more than 10 months after he was abducted.

Al-Qadi told the president that he is “very grateful to the State of Israel, to the army” for the efforts to rescue him.

The Israeli military “is doing holy work,” Al-Qadi stressed. The soldiers “risked their lives, did everything to rescue me,” he added.

When Al-Qadi heard “Hebrew outside the door, I couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe it,” he said.

Al-Qadi emphasized the importance of continuing hostage rescue missions, saying that the captives “are suffering…you can’t imagine it.”

While Al-Qadi did not go into the details of the conditions of his captivity, he said he had gone “24 hours without sleep” at one point and endured “suffering every minute.”

“We’re all happy that Farhan is back, we can see the color coming back to his face, he’s finally seeing sun, seeing light,” Rahat Mayor Talal Al-Kernawi told Channel 12 News after visiting Al-Qadi in the hospital.

He is “in good spirits, happy, cheerful, smiling… he’s very skinny but he’s happy, and you can see the joy on his face,” Al-Kernawi added.

Al-Qadi said that he had been kept in “difficult conditions” during his time in captivity.

But, Al-Kernawi said that Al-Qadi has emphasized that “what’s important today is that I’m standing on my own two feet.”