Israelis were shocked Saturday at the physical condition of three emaciated hostages released by Hamas under the ongoing ceasefire deal, with many condemning the evident starvation of the Israelis after nearly 500 days in captivity.
Eli Sharabi, 52, Or Levy, 34, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56 — all civilians — were released in exchange for 183 convicted Palestinian terrorists. The Times of Israel noted that Sharabi had not yet been informed that his wife and two teenage daughters had been murdered by Hamas on October 7, 2023. (Breitbart News covered the funeral in October 2023.)
The Times of Israel noted:
Three hostages abducted during the October 7, 2023, attack were released by Hamas on Saturday, with the men looking gaunt and unsteady on their feet as they were released by the terror group, 16 months after they were kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri and the Nova music festival.
Eli Sharabi, 52, Or Levy, 34, and Ohad Ben Ami, 56, all appeared extremely thin and frail, and while they were able to walk, seemed to be unsteady on their feet.
Sharabi and Levy were coming home to a tragic new reality — Sharabi’s wife and two teenage daughters were murdered on October 7, and Levy’s wife was also killed that day.
Sharabi’s brother, Yossi, was murdered in captivity.
Israel slammed CNN for attempting to compare the Israeli civilians to Palestinian terrorists in a headline that read:
Israel’s Government Press Office (GPO) issued a statement:
The GPO condemns any attempt by the media to establish a comparison and/or symmetry between the hostages, who were abducted from their homes in a brutal terrorist attack and held in starvation for a long period, and convicted terrorists that were serving their sentences in Israeli prisons. A narrative comparing hostages and prisoners runs contrary to every ethical standard of journalism.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also issued a statement: “We have again seen the monsters of Hamas. These are the same monsters who slaughtered our citizens and abused our hostages. I say to them again: They will pay the price.”
Netanyahu, responding from the U.S., where he has been visiting since last Sunday, also cited President Donald Trump’s support for freeing all of the hostages and destroying Hamas.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
