Michael and Tal Levy, the brothers of Or Levy who was released from Hamas captivity on Shabbos, described the inhumane conditions and starvation their brother endured in Hamas captivity for 491 days.

Michael spoke to the press at Sheba Hospital: “Yesterday, after a year and 4 months, I saw my brother again. I hugged him but it wasn’t the same Or that left home on October 7 2023. Or returned in a deteriorated physical condition. For 16 months, he was barefoot, hungry, and in a constant state of fear that every day could be his last.”

“His greatest fear was confirmed when he was freed; for 491 days he waited to reunite with Einav [his wife]. He found out she was murdered only yesterday. Finally, yesterday, he met Almog [his three-year-old son], and Almog asked, ‘Why did it take you so long to come back?'”

“The Or I saw would not have survived another month in captivity.”

Earlier on Sunday, Or’s brother Tal spoke to Channel 12: “Or is slowly recovering. Yesterday was a little more difficult and confusing for him but he didn’t sleep very much at night. He sat with my mother and my brother and shared experiences from captivity; he only fell asleep at 7 in the morning. Yesterday was a confusing day, but he has been going through a process and today is a better day; he is starting to regroup.”

“The stories he tells are very, very difficult stories, very difficult experiences. I can’t describe it. If I could share everything he told us, and if the public at home knew what they are going through there and what their chances of survival are under such conditions… the Or I saw yesterday would not have survived another two or three weeks or a month in captivity.”

Tal spoke about the intentional starvation policy by Yahya Sinwar. “There was deliberate starvation, as part of Yahya Sinwar’s policy,” he said. “This is not the first time we’re hearing this. Today I heard briefings from the Prime Minister or yesterday there were already briefings that they did not know about intentional starvation, so I can say unequivocally that they did hear about intentional starvation. The Prime Minister did know because a few months ago, officials from the Ministry of Defense and the army, as well as from the Prime Minister’s Office, came to us. They told us about a top-down policy – from Yahya Sinwar – who gave an order to starve the male hostages. So it can’t be that the families and we were exposed to this and the Prime Minister was not.”

Tal confirmed that Or requested not to be released yesterday, suggesting to his captor that another hostage be released instead of him. “He felt very, very bad about being released while others remained in captivity. We told him he was a humanitarian case due, among other things, to Almog, because Almog lost his mother and the only chance for the family is Or, and then he mentioned Elkana Bochbot and said that he has a 4-year-old daughter, and ‘Why was he not released?'”

Tal said that the person who told Or – at his request – that his wife Einav, H’yd, was murdered, was the psychologist. “He guessed she was dead because he was there in the shelter [at the Nova party]. He speculated that she was dead but didn’t know. The first question he asked the psychologist who met him when he joined the IDF was whether Einav was alive or dead, and she confirmed to him that she was dead,” he said.

Tal described the meeting between Almog and Oren: “Almog recognized him immediately. The fear was not just ours – but Or’s. He was very afraid that Almog wouldn’t recognize him and said that what kept him going every day was that he dreamed of reuniting with Almog. As time in captivity passed, he counted day by day. He began to understand that it was possible Almog wouldn’t recognize him and that the meeting he dreamed of would be very strained. But Almog totally remembered him. He was already eager to meet him and the meeting was amazing. It was truly the most emotional moment I ever experienced.”

Or put Almog to sleep for the night for the first time on Sunday evening. “This is the first time he’s going to sleep with his Abba,” Tal said. “It was his father’s dream every night in captivity. He dreamed of putting Almog to sleep. And tonight I’m going to help. The three of us will lie down together and read a book. And the two of them will go to sleep in each other’s arms.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)