When former Israeli hostage Ohad Ben Ami, 56,  arrived as a free man to the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center over a week ago, it was his first time seeing his middle daughter, Natalie, 19, in military uniform. She had enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces while her father was in captivity and had to keep her IDF service for the past eight months a complete secret because of her father’s captivity. 

Mr. Ben Ami, gaunt and malnourished after 491 days under Hamas torture and starvation in tunnels at Gaza, gave his daughter a huge hug. Clearly in shock he asked, “Did mom agree that you enlist in the army after what happened?” 

He and his wife were captured by Hamas terrorists in their homes on October 7. His daughters were initially in contact with their dad until he messaged them that the terrorists had broken into their bomb shelter. They later found video footage of their father still in his boxers and t-shirt being led away by Hamas on the social media platform Telegram and contacted Israeli media about their parents’ abduction. 

Mr. Ben Ami’s oldest daughter, Yuli, added, “it took a lot of time and a lot of work persuading mom to let Natali enlist.”

The proud dad, holding Natalie’s hand tightly, and surrounded by his wife and daughters, replied “I’m so proud that you enlisted, and that you didn’t listen to mom.”  

“I knew you would be!” his daughter exclaimed happily. Her sisters and mom laughed.

Mr. Ben Ami, who spent much of his time crouched in the cramped spaces of the Gaza tunnels where he was held, has not remained quiet since his release. On Saturday night, a video message featuring Mr. Ben Ami, was shared at a massive rally in Tel Aviv calling for the release of the 73 remaining hostages following the release earlier that day of three hostages, including Israeli-American, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Sasha Trofanov and Iair Horn. 

In the video message, the soft-spoken accountant spoke about his captivity and psychological torment he was subjected to and called on the nation not to forget those remaining in Hamas’s hands. 

“On October 7th, they took me away. They put me in some kind of sealed container. And life goes on. I had no idea what was happening outside, and our captors, of course, knew this. And just like they evoke terror with weapons, they also use psychological terror,” said Mr. Ben Ami.

“The messages we received from them were basically saying that ‘Your government has abandoned you,’ ‘We can kill you at any moment,’ ‘If it were up to your government, we should have killed you long ago.’ And with these messages, you have to survive, exist, get through another day, and another, and another,” he relayed. 

Mr. Ben Ami’s daughters related to Israel’s N12 television network that their father had very little to eat during his captivity — a small breakfast in the morning and pita at night with a little cheese. Sometimes, the hostages were given a bit of halva, which Mr. Ben Ami would save and share with the other hostages to mark the date of one of his daughters’ birthdays. A week before his release, Hamas captors gave Mr. Ben Ami more food to eat. 

Mr. Ben Ami emphasized that what kept his hope going were the Israeli masses going out and calling for the release of all the hostages. “What keeps you above ground is when you suddenly see that the people — your people — are fighting for you. We are the Jewish people. We are a strong people. We are a united people, we are unified. We know how to lift each other up.

“This is what sustained us. This is what lifted us up. This is what will lift us up going forward. And if there’s a day that could be symbolic, like Day 500, that will cause many, or the whole country to stand up, to go outside, to raise signs, to vote with their feet and say that they want everyone to return,” he said.

For Mr. Ben Ami, the most difficult part of his release was leaving his fellow hostages behind in the Gaza tunnels. “My friends, you know that I love you. You also know it was hard for me to leave while you remain there. This was not an easy event for me. Stay strong, the people want you to return. With God’s help, you will get out,”he recalled telling them.

On Saturday, Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners, 36 of whom are convicted terrorists who carried out deadly attacks, and 333 who were detained in Gaza during the war, in exchange for the three Israeli hostages. Since the ceasefire began on January 19, more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners have been released and 20 Israeli hostages and five Thai captives have been freed in the first phase of the ceasefire.