Sagui Dekel-Chen and Yair Horn, who were released today from Hamas captivity in Gaza, were held together in recent days along with other hostages, Kan News reported. They were in tunnels for most of their captivity.

Sasha Troufanov, who was also released, was held alone by Islamic Jihad.

The three men spent their entire captivity in Khan Younis, located just meters away from Kibbutz Nir Oz, where they were abducted. All three endured physical abuse and psychological terror.

Dekel-Chen was tortured while being interrogated by his captors and has scars on his body. Throughout his captivity, he had no idea what happened to his family and was not exposed to any media. Shortly before his release, the terrorists informed him that his wife gave birth to a daughter while he was in captivity, and cynically gave him earrings as a gift to her.

When Dekel-Chen returned to Israel, he asked the IDF representatives if it was true because he didn’t believe the terrorists.

Dekel-Chen was injured in his right shoulder on October 7 and his injury was exacerbated by the physical abuse he endured in Gaza. When he met with IDF representatives, he told them, “Forget about it, the most important thing is that I meet my family already.”

Dekel-Chen was held in a hospital in the Gaza Strip until the start of the hostage release agreement in November 2023. He was held there along with other hostages, including Itzik Elgarat, who was in critical condition. The IDF believes that Elgarat was later killed by Hamas terrorists.

Sasha Troufanov suspected that his father, Vitaly, H’yd, was murdered in the October 7 massacre. After his release, IDF representatives informed him of his father’s death – and he broke down in tears.

Yair Horn knew that his brother, Eitan, was also in captivity. He saw him briefly at the beginning of their captivity inside a tunnel and knew he had been injured but hadn’t seen him since then. When he returned to Israel, he asked the IDF representatives, “When will my brother be released from captivity?”

The three were released very hungry although they appeared to be in better condition than the three hostages released last week.

(YWN’s Jerusalem desk is keeping you updated after tzeis ha’Shabbos in Israel)