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Israeli Sharon Alony-Cunio survived 52 days as a hostage in Gaza with her two daughters before being freed in an exchange deal between Israel and Hamas. But she fears for the life of her husband, who remains captive in the bombed-out Palestinian enclave.
Now back home with her twins, three-year-old Julie and Emma, she pleads for the release of the remaining 137 hostages.
‘Every minute is critical. The conditions there are not good and the days drag on forever,’ Alony-Cunio, 34, revealed in her first interview since she was freed from Hamas captivity.
‘It’s Russian roulette. “You don’t know if tomorrow morning they will keep you alive or kill you, simply because they want to or simply because their backs are against the wall,” she said.
Alony-Cunio was one of 240 people taken hostage on October 7 by Hamas gunmen who stormed the border with Israel and killed about 1,200 people.
Sharon Alony-Cunio (pictured) survived 52 days as a hostage in Gaza with her two daughters before being freed in an exchange deal between Israel and Hamas.
The family was left devastated after father David was held hostage while the other three were freed.
David (pictured) was separated from them three days before his release on November 27, before fighting resumed.
The militants who took over her kibbutz, Nir Oz, which is just over a mile from Gaza, set her house on fire and took her away at gunpoint after she climbed through the window.
She was taken across the border with her husband David and one of her twins, she said.
Her second daughter was held separately in Gaza for 10 days before being reunited in captivity with 12 other hostages in conditions she said were harsh, especially for children.
“My children are heartbroken,” Alony-Cunio said. ‘I am torn without my second half, the love of my life, the father of my daughters who ask me every day, where is dad?’
David was separated from them three days before his release on November 27, before fighting resumed. Removing the remaining hostages should be the top priority, he said.
“I’m afraid of getting bad news that he’s no longer alive,” Alony-Cunio said.
Israeli hostages released on November 26, 2023: Above L-R: Hagar Brodutch and her children Ofri, Yuval and Oriya, Roni Krivoi; center: Chen Almog Goldstein and his children Agam, Gal and Tal Almog; below: Avigail Idan, Elma Avraham, Aviva Siegel and her siblings Ela and Dafna Elyakim
Some 13 Israeli hostages freed from Hamas captivity: Margalit Moses, Adina Moshe, Danielle Aloni and her daughter Emilia, Doron Asher and her daughters Raz and Aviv, Hanna Katzir, Keren Munder and her son Ohad, Ruti Munder, Yaffa Adar and Hannah Perry
Pictured, from top left to bottom right: Bilal and Aisha Ziyadne, 18 and 17, Ilana Gritzewsky, 30, Nili Margalit, 40, Shani Goren, 29, Amit Soussana, 40, Sapir Cohen, 29, and Mia Schem, 21.
‘We are not just names on a billboard. We are human beings, made of flesh and blood. There is the father of my daughters, my partner and many other fathers, sons, mothers, brothers.’
“Everyone gave up food for [the girls]. You don’t know if in the night there will be [food] so in the morning you save some for the night. Everything is very calculated, a quarter of a pita, half a pita to save for the next morning.
Sometimes they fed them dates and cheese and other times they distributed meat, rice and portions for six among the 12.
Waiting to be allowed to go to the bathroom was a problem for the girls, she said, so they had to use a sink and a trash can.
‘Sometimes when there was a power cut, they would let us open the door, draw the curtain and then we would whisper. How can you keep a child together for 12 hours with just whispers?
The United States has provided unwavering diplomatic and military support to Israel’s campaign, even as it has urged Israel to minimize civilian casualties and further mass displacement.
Despite not being the focus of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, 267 West Bank Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since October 7.
Residents said there was heavy fighting in and around the southern town of Khan Younis, where Israeli ground forces opened a new line of attack last week.
Her group of hostages was held on the surface and moved several times, she said, but with memories still raw and her husband still inside, Alony-Cunio was reluctant to give more details about her capture and her time as a hostage.
But one of the biggest difficulties, he said, was simply not knowing what was being done to get them out.
‘Every day there is crying, frustration and anxiety. How long will we be here? Have they forgotten about us? Have they given up on us?
A seven-day truce allowed the release of more than 100 hostages. The rest remain held incommunicado while Israel bombs Gaza promising to eliminate Hamas.
So far, more than 18,000 people have died in Gaza, according to local health authorities.
Many families of the 137 hostages still held in Gaza, whose names and photographs appear on billboards in the streets of Israel, are scared.
The focus of the conflict has shifted to the south of the besieged territory after fierce fighting and bombings that reduced much of the north to rubble and forced almost two million people to flee their homes.
The focus of the conflict has shifted to the south of the besieged territory after fierce fighting and bombings that reduced much of the north to rubble.
Israel has pledged to keep fighting until it removes Hamas from power, dismantles its military capabilities and returns all hostages still held by Palestinian militants.
But the relentless bombing, which has killed 18,000 Palestinians according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, is “narrowing the window” for a new ceasefire to be agreed, Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al said. Thani.
Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it removes Hamas from power, dismantles its military capabilities and returns all hostages still held by Palestinian militants after being captured during the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel that started the war.
The United States has provided unwavering diplomatic and military support to the campaign, even as it has urged Israel to minimize civilian casualties and new mass displacement.
Residents said there was heavy fighting in and around the southern town of Khan Younis, where Israeli ground forces opened a new line of attack last week, and that battles were still being fought in parts of Gaza City and the camp. of Jabaliya refugees in northern Gaza. , where large areas have been reduced to rubble.