‘The Circle Doesn’t Really Close: Hostage’s Son Shares Pain of Losing Father in Captivity

Jerusalem, 29 August, 2024 (TPS) -- Farhan Al Qadi, the Israeli hostage rescued alive from the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Tuesday, disclosed on Thursday that he befriended Aryeh Zalmanovich in captivity — and witnessed his death.

The 86-year-old Zalmanovich was the oldest hostage abducted by Hamas on October 7. Zalmanovich was declared dead in December based on intelligence and his body remains in Gaza.

Al Qadi, a resident of the Bedouin Negev town of Rahat, has not spoken publicly about his experience but did talk to Zalmanovich’s family. Aryeh Zalmanovich’s son, Boaz, shared his thoughts with The Press Service of Israel.

“We… unfortunately knew that father has been gone [declared dead] for many months since the end of November, the beginning of December. It’s been a long time, and every time there’s a new reminder, it’s not easy. The circle doesn’t really close.”

Zalmanovich told TPS-IL his father was one of Kibbutz Nir Oz’s founding members, living there since 1957.

“He was there until almost his last moments, even dying in the house he built with his own hands, alongside the fields he toiled over, they didn’t let him die there [on the kibbutz].”

Boaz added, “We didn’t get any attention from the Red Cross. Some of my dad’s photos from the day he was taken from his home were published a while ago, an elderly man with a bruised head. They [Hamas] gave him a blow to the head. The Red Cross couldn’t care less. They appeared when there was a release deal of the hostages, so we saw them, but they didn’t even talk to us — at least not to me — and say, ‘What can we do to help your father?’

Asked about his relationship with Al Qadi, Boaz told TPS-IL, “My conversation with him was very short. Hopefully in the future, we will meet for longer talks.” But with the body still in Gaza, “This nightmare continues for us and for a hundred or so other families.”

Said Boaz, “We don’t want to receive greetings, stories about our dear ones who were murdered in captivity. Let the hostages come back, those who still can come back alive… We need to make a deal now.”

At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 103 remaining hostages, more than 30 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.