49 days in Hamas tunnels

At the age of 72, Adina Moshe lived through her worst nightmare. A resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 and held captive in Gaza tunnels for 49 days.

The elderly woman was one of 24 Israeli hostages released in the first prisoner exchange between Israel and Gaza, which took place on November 24 during a four-day truce. Her nephew Eyal Nuri relayed what Adina Moshe said about the “endless” days spent in captivity.

An elderly woman was in her kibbutz home with her husband when Hamas invaded. The couple hid in a shelter. “For an hour they heard gunshots, people and laughter,” said Mr. Nouri, whose mother communicated with Adina and her husband via text messages. About an hour after they hid in the shelter, the terrorists tried to break in and shot at the door, which Adina’s husband had been holding tightly to protect them.

She heard Hamas fighters shoot her husband “over and over again” until they were sure he was dead.

“It must have happened around 9 a.m. that day because they were talking to my mother up to that point.” – noted Adina’s nephew. He said they then saw messages in which his aunt asked for help and advice on how to stop her husband’s bleeding. When Eyal Nuri returned to the kibbutz, he saw three bullet holes in the door of the shelter. The militants managed to break a window in the safe room. They entered, grabbed Adina and pulled her out the window, who heard the men shoot her husband “over and over again” until they were sure he was dead. “They were a couple for 52 years,” Mr Nouri said. The family began searching photos and videos of the 72-year-old woman on social media and websites for information about what happened to their relative. They learned she had been kidnapped by Hamas when they saw a photograph of her sitting terrified on a motorcycle between two gunmen.

Adina Moshe at the time of her abduction by Hamas at Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. Photo.

“When she was released, she told us that she was grabbed and forced to walk barefoot for miles through tunnels. She felt the muddy ground. It was very wet and she had trouble breathing. The corridors were narrow and sometimes she had to duck her head to get through. She can’t say how long they walked, but it seemed like an eternity before they reached a room.” – said her nephew. Later, Adina told her daughter that the death of her husband in a strange way gave her strength: she thought that she had nothing more to lose, because she had already lost the most precious thing in her life.

She was grabbed barefoot and forced to walk through tunnels for kilometers and kilometers. She felt the dirty ground. It was very humid and she had trouble breathing.

According to her, the conditions of detention were terrible, since they were constantly in the dark, and they were given light only for two hours a day. For food, he said, they were given only some rice and beans and a bottle of water for two days. There were no beds in the detention room, only chairs and mattresses on which children and the elderly were placed. “Some children slept between the legs of the chairs” and the Hamas man constantly shouted at them “quiet, quiet”. “As for hygiene, they didn’t wash all this time.”. From a friend who was in the same room with her, they learned that Adina was steadfast and cared very much about the children. “My aunt is a kindergarten teacher”– said the man.

The hostages did not know what was happening all these days, but they felt the earth shaking from the bombing. “Those were dramatic days, they had no future, they didn’t know anything,” says the man, talking about his aunt’s experiences. The moment of her release was no less scary, because at first she simply found herself surrounded by many jubilant Hamas people, not knowing what would happen. “She realized that she would be released only when she saw the Red Cross flag, only then did she understand that this nightmare would end. Then, of course, a new nightmare began.”

She went to the kibbutz with her daughters and granddaughter. It was the first time she saw a burnt house. She walked through the rubble. It still smells of death here.

The woman lost 12 kilograms, and when she returned, she had to be hospitalized to regain her strength. After the initial shock, she asked to visit the kibbutz. “She went there with her daughters and granddaughter. She saw the burned house for the first time. She walked among the rubble. It still smells of death.” According to her nephew, the woman returned to a completely different world, where many friends and relatives were killed or kidnapped, and she had no community to return to and no home to live in. “There is nothing left of her property, not even her clothes,” notes Mr. Nouri.

According to him, Adina still talks little about her experience, mainly with her daughter and granddaughter, from whom he receives information.

The family, he said, has told and will continue to tell Adina’s story in the media around the world, thereby trying to constantly remind them of the demand for the return of all hostages.

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