Choosing life: Three years after being taken hostage, former Gaza hostages savor each moment

Taken with their children or alone. Held for weeks, months, or years. Confined in captors' homes or Hamas tunnels as war raged above them. Israeli former hostages seized on October 7 say they now cherish even the smallest moments of freedom.

Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack was Israel's single deadliest day. The terrorists rampaged through villages, a music festival and army bases, killing 1,200 people and dragging 251 hostages back to Gaza.

They included civilians, soldiers, men, women, children and elderly people, Israelis and foreign nationals. Most were freed in return for Palestinian prisoners during ceasefires between Israel and Hamas, but dozens were killed in captivity.

"Freedom has completely changed the way I see life," said Emily Damari, 30, who was abducted wounded from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza and released in January 2025.

Her ordeal taught her not to take anything for granted, she said. "One day in captivity feels like one week. You want to give up at every moment, but I did not," said Damari, who has recently married and launched a clothing line in Israel.

"Today, I open the fridge, and I say thank you. I drink cold water, and I say thank you. I am thankful for everything, big and little. Gratitude has become central to who I am," said Damari. "Being free, at home, surrounded by my family and my people is something I will never take for granted again."

'I choose life'

Eli Sharabi, 54, was seized from nearby Kibbutz Be'eri. His British-born wife Lianne and their two daughters Noiya, 16, and Yahel, 13, were slain by the attackers. His brother Yossi was taken hostage and killed in Gaza.

In February 2025, Sharabi was released, appearing emaciated and skeletal, after 491 days of captivity, which he says included being held in a tunnel, hungry, shackled, and beaten.

"I learned in captivity how precious every moment and every choice can be, and I carry that understanding with me now. I choose to look ahead, to keep going and to use the life I have in a meaningful way," said Sharabi.

Since his release, he has helped establish the Shalva Sharabi Family Center in the southern city of Ashkelon with the disability charity Shalva, to treat families coping with trauma and disabilities, in commemoration of his own family lost.

"I choose life. I choose to keep living fully, while carrying Lianne, Noiya, Yahel and Yossi with me in everything I do."

His wife and daughters believed deeply in caring for others, he said. "Their kindness and care for others will continue. Families will walk through these doors and receive help, care and hope in a place that carries their name. That gives me strength and makes me very proud," said Sharabi.

Slowly building a future

Hagar Brodutch was seized from Kfar Aza with her three children and her neighbor's daughter, who fled to their house after her parents were killed. They were freed in a brief truce in November 2023.

Life after captivity, she said, can be far more complicated than sometimes portrayed.

"The daily struggle is immense, especially for children. I believe it will take many more years before captivity becomes just a shadow that walks alongside us, rather than something that defines who we are," said Brodutch.

Recently, Brodutch, 43, began taking pastry-baking classes, a passion she has long had.

"This is about much more than learning how to bake. It is about finding a new path, creating something with my own hands, and slowly building a future," she said.

"During my time in Hamas captivity, I began to understand that if I were released, returning to my previous life and working in management might no longer be possible," said Brodutch.

"I chose pastry as a form of therapy, but also as a way to create something new for myself, with the hope that one day it could become my profession," she said.

Kfar Aza was one of the hardest-hit communities in Hamas's attack. Aviva Siegel, 65, was kidnapped with her husband Keith. She was released in November 2023, but Keith was held until February 2025.

Aviva joined the hostage release campaign movement in Israel while her husband was still being held. Their reunion, her children and grandchildren, and even strangers she meets give her strength every day, she says.

"I feel that I’m not alone and that there's so much love in this world, and we need to keep it with both our hands," she said. "I feel very, very lucky to be alive."