The Stories They Could Tell

We are now in Chapter Five of the book that will be written about the Gaza War. Chapter One, the October 7 mas­sacre. Chapter Two, the shock thereafter. Chapter Three, the ground operation in Northern Gaza. Chapter Four, the first ceasefire and the partial release of hostages. In Chapter Five, 138 hostages are still in captivity, ceasefire is over, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are moving towards Southern Gaza. Going back a few weeks, Hamas begged for a ceasefire, and manipulated the world to pressure Israel to stop its war and allow humanitarian aid. It’s obvious that what Hamas really wanted was to re-arm. Eventually, a truce was signed, with the US, Egypt and Qatar as the bridesmaids. For seven days Israel held its fire and allowed humanitarian aid, in exchange for Israeli hostages. In that same pact, Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel were released. As suspected, a large portion of fuel that was aimed for civilian needs, such as the desalination plant, was taken by Hamas. The ceasefire was intended to continue for a few more days but Hamas broke it, shooting Israeli soldiers in Gaza and initiating two terror attacks in Israel. One at a Jerusalem bus station, killing three people and injur­ing 13. The other was a trample attack. Hamas took responsibility and as a finale to the ceasefire, fired a few rockets into Southern Israel. Hamas had enough fuel to get going.

One hundred and ten hostages were released over seven days. Each day, Hamas managed a well-orchestrated and photographed ceremony. The terrorists in neatly ironed uniforms handed the hostages to the Red Cross, graciously es­corting the elderly or injured ones. They forced the hostages to wave goodbye with a smile, as if they were returning home from summer camp. Mia Shem (21) said to the cameras that the people (who “hosted” her) were very good and kind, and the food was good. So good that she came back slim and pale. The stories of those released are starting to pile up. The chief of the Sheba Medical Center that checked the hostages upon their arrival was interviewed. Due to privacy concerns, he did not reveal much, but said something that made everyone worry: “One day, when the released will speak up, we will not be able to sleep at night.” The hostages were starved, being fed most of the time with one piece of bread a day. They wore the same clothes for the 50-odd days, and no shower was made available to them. The terrorists broke Mia’s hand during her abduction and it was operated on by a veterinarian.

The touching story of Yarden did not leave a dry eye. She, along with her husband and three-year-old daughter, was abducted and taken in a car. At one point they managed to jump out of the car. Yarden handed the girl to her hus­band and told him to run, knowing that he would be able to run faster and save the child. She stayed behind and was taken hostage. The meeting between Yarden and her daughter was a moment of happiness. “We found Mommy,” the girl said with a victorious smile on her face, holding her mother tightly. To say “found” is okay for a three-year-old, but it was not okay for the Prime Minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, who posted on X (formerly Twitter) about Emily, a nine-year-old Irish-Israeli hostage: “an in­nocent child who was lost has now been found.” Israeli minister Benny Gantz replied: “Emily was never “lost”, she was brutally kidnapped and held hostage”. Days after her release, Emily could not speak, she only whispered. During captivity, she was not allowed to speak normally. Eitan (12) testified that he was forced by his captors to watch the grue­some acts captured by the bodycams of the terrorists. Two young boys were branded with heated metal from the exhaust of a motorcycle so they would be identified if they escaped. The hostages were kept in small groups and some in isolation. One of them was held by a UNRWA (the UN relief agency) worker. This and other findings justify Israel’s claim that UN representatives in Gaza are actually working for Hamas. So was the chief of the Shifa hospital who was detained after it was found that his hospital served as a major command station and that hostages were kept there; and not necessarily for medical treatment.

The redheaded boys, Kfir Bibas, 10 months old, and his brother Ariel (four), who were abducted along with their parents, are still being held captive. Kfir became a symbol of the conflict, the tini­est human shield of Hamas. Although, according to the truce, all children were to be released, the Bibas family was not released, and Hamas continues to play its sadistic game. In an act of psychologi­cal terror, they released a clip in which the father cries after being told that his children were murdered. Another sadistic act happened a day before the release of one of the young girls when Hamas separated her from her mother. When the mediators asked for the mother, Hamas claimed that they did not know of the mother’s whereabouts. Maybe she was lost, too? Israel insisted on the release of the mother, and Hamas ‘found’ her. The released hostages have provided valuable information about those still in captivity. Since the Red Cross did not visit the hostages and no official list was provided until now, it is not clear who is alive and who has been killed. In the hostage release ‘ceremo­nies’, the Red Cross served as a shuttle agency, driving the hostages from Gaza to Egypt. Its incompetence was so evident in the case of Elma (84) who was released with a body temperature of 28 degrees. She returned to Israel with a life-threatening condition. Apparently her children brought the Red Cross her medications but they refused to take them and her condition deteriorated.

Hamas broke the pact earlier than planned. On the eighth day, 10 young women were supposed to be released. The US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller commented that prob­ably Hamas did not want to turn over those women because “they did not want those women to talk about what happened to them during their time in custody”. In light of the continued silence of women’s organisations, Israel organised an event at the UN building where witnesses and the search and rescue people shared the stories of the women who were raped, sexually abused, and mutilated. Although the UN women finally issued a condemna­tion, it was too little and too late. Other women’s organisations continue to keep silent.

Investigations of the October 7 intelligence issues reveal troubling findings. Apparently, similar military operations were the theme of a recent Hamas TV series. During the awards ceremony, Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar greeted the producers and said clearly they planned to attack Israel. Israeli intelligence was blamed for relying too much on technology and less on traditional intelligence work of listening to open-source intelligence, informa­tion readily available. This adds to the lookout soldiers which showed that the massacre could have been avoided if the dots were connected. Perhaps this will be the actual Chapter One of the book.

In this darkness, I see some light. The solidarity of Israeli Arabs was applauded. Accounting for 20 per cent of Israel’s population, many stood up and testified in favour of Israel. A survey found that their Israeli identify is trumping their Palestin­ian identity. Mansour Abbas, a member of the Knesset and leader of the United Arab List, gave an interview to CNN, saying Hamas and Palestinian organisations should put down their weapons, that violence never promoted the Palestinian causes. To hear such an Arab leader condemn Hamas was music to my ears.

Last Saturday, my friends and I went for a hike. While walking, we heard a group of motorcyclists coming our way. My immediate reaction was ‘What if…’ What if they are wearing green head­bands? What should we do if they are terrorists? I looked around and planned to jump down the slope.

The trauma exists. Becoming a psychologist will be the most useful profession in the coming years. We need to heal from the October 7 trauma.

You may be wondering how the book will end. I truly hope that the last chapter will take place at a ceremony in Oslo and will include a Nobel Peace Prize.

About The Author

Anat Bernstein-Reich

Anat Bernstein-Reich is chairperson of the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce, a Friend of India Awardee for 2020, and CEO of BDO Israel-India Investment Banking firm

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