Freed teen hostage whose dad and sister had been killed by Hamas feared rape, torture and dying

Information

Israel struggle 2023

By Yaron Steinbuch

A teenage Israeli lady whose dad and sister had been killed by Hamas has recounted her ordeal being held hostage with the remainder of her household — and the way she was satisfied she can be raped, tortured and killed.

Agam Goldstein-Almog, 17, was hauled into captivity in Gaza Metropolis through the Oct. 7 terror assaults, alongside together with her 48-year-old mother, Chen, and two brothers, Gal, 11, and Tal, 9, earlier than they had been freed on Nov. 26.

“I bear in mind our entry into the town. I merely advised my mother, ‘They will torture me, they will rape me,’” Goldstein-Almog mentioned in a Thursday interview on Israeli Military Radio, in keeping with the Jerusalem Submit.

“I saved saying to myself on a regular basis — ‘What, received’t I attain my 18th birthday? A minimum of give me till 18.’”

In captivity, she had goals of being reunited together with her dad, Nadav, and 20-year-old soldier sister, Yam, 20, who’d stayed to assist her dad through the murderous rampage in Kibbutz Kfar Aza as a result of he was recovering from surgical procedure.

“We had hope that we might return and Father can be ready for us, that we might see him in a wheelchair,” Goldstein-Almog mentioned.

“What we heard on the radio shattered that hope for us,” she mentioned of the information that each had been murdered.

She typically simply checked out her mom to speak in a method their captors wouldn’t perceive.

“There are emotions that the physique feels that can not be defined. It’s an absolute shock, it doesn’t matter what I say, it received’t be understood,” Goldstein-Almog mentioned.

“We each checked out one another and understood that there would in all probability by no means be phrases. There’ll all the time be solely emotions,” she mentioned.

“Phrases are too small in comparison with what the physique feels. In order that’s the way it was. We seemed and understood, as cliché as it might sound. We simply had to have a look at one another and really feel that we’re in the identical boat, feeling the identical factor, and we couldn’t discuss it as a result of there are not any phrases to explain it,” the lady added.

When requested when she was most scared, she mentioned at night time.

“With all the issue in saying it, I used to be most afraid of the [Israeli] airstrikes each night time. At first, there was the worry of [the terrorists], which was the most important worry,” Goldstein-Almog mentioned.

“Slowly, there have been larger fears, which had been the heavy bombings,” she added.

Concerning how captivity modified her, Goldstein-Almog mentioned, “It modified many issues for the more severe and took away a way of safety from me, instilling a variety of worry, nervousness, confusion, and helplessness in me.”

She mentioned her “life values” have modified.

“Theirs was all the time completely different from ours, however mine modified after one thing like this,” the teenager mentioned.

She added: “I’m glad there are those that proceed with their lives — it exhibits a sure power. However then again, 71 days in captivity are like one lengthy day.

“It’s actually the identical day. So we’re all the time transferring ahead however enthusiastic about those that are nonetheless caught there behind and wish to say that they’re in peril.”