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Freed Israeli hostage returned ashen and emaciated, mother says

Asia

By AFP | Feb 06, 2025

Relatives and supporters of Israelis held hostage in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Palestinian militants, hold a demonstration calling on the US to intervene for their release, in front of the US embassy branch office in Tel Aviv, on February 4, 2025. [AFP]

After more than 15 months in Gaza, hostage Romi Gonen's life was in real danger at the point of her release after she was deprived of food and sunlight, her mother said Wednesday.

"She came back with severe deficiencies... at a level that was truly life-threatening," said Meirav Leshem-Gonen, whose daughter was seized by Palestinian militants during Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel.

"She came back very pale, both because of the nutritional deficiencies and because she had barely seen the sun at all," the 56-year-old mother told AFP.

Gonen, 24, was freed with two other women hostages -- Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher -- as part of a Gaza ceasefire agreement in exchange for Palestinian prisoners on January 19.

During captivity, photos of the young woman, blonde with a wide grin, were plastered on posters across Israel calling for her release.

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But she emerged to freedom, from the labyrinthine tunnels beneath Gaza where hostages were held, pale with dark hair and dark circles beneath her eyes.

"It was the most emotional thing in the world. In one moment, she became my baby again," her mother said.

"Finally, I could breathe again. I was able to come back to life."

'Starved'

Gonen, from northern Israel, was among dozens captured when Hamas militants ambushed the Supernova rave on October 7, 2023.

During the attack, from which she attempted to flee by car, Gonen phoned her mother, who tried to comfort her above the sound of explosions.

The three other passengers in the car, including Gonen's best friend, were shot dead during the assault.

"They shot me, Mom, I'm bleeding!" she had time to say to her mother before being taken captive.

"Her injury is severe, her hand is very limited in movement," Leshem-Gonen said of the injury, explaining her daughter would need complex surgery followed by a long rehabilitation to recover physically.

The mother refrained from going into extensive detail about her daughter's suffering in captivity, saying Gonen would "talk about it if she wants to when the time comes".

But Leshem-Gonen did say "for part of the time, they were starved, food was deliberately withheld from them, even though there was food," adding her daughter had lost 10 kilos in Gaza.

"It's going to be a long process," said the mother who, herself, has trouble remembering what life was like before October 7 and devoted herself to campaigning for her daughter's release.

With other parents of hostages, she went to the edge of Gaza in August 2024 to shout Gonen's name into a megaphone, hoping her daughter would hear her from where she was.

'Ultimate mother'

Both became symbols for the plight of the hostages and their families.

A regular fixture on the front pages of Israeli newspapers, Leshem-Gonen was called the "ultimate mother" or "absolute mother", with Israel's public becoming fiercely protective of her.

Gonen "went from being an anonymous girl to being known throughout the country", her mother said.

Before October 7, the young girl, who has four siblings, worked in a restaurant to finance a trip to Australia and Hong Kong.

On Wednesday, she published her first social media post after her return from captivity.

"After 471 days, I came out of the darkness into the light and I was so moved to shout: 'Dad, I'm back alive,'" Gonen wrote.

"It is forbidden to forget the hostages still in Gaza. We must bring them home," she added.

Of the 251 people taken to Gaza during the October 7 attack on Israel, 76 are still being held, 34 of whom have been declared dead by the Israeli army.

Leshem-Gonen said some of her daughter's first thoughts following her release had been for the hostages that remain in Gaza, adding the family would continue to fight for "all the hostages".

"She said: 'Mom, we have to get everyone out, no matter what'. She didn't say it for nothing. She knows what those who are still there are going through. She was there," the mother said.