The former Hamas hostage was released 491 days after being lured, and his family was massacred.

Eli Sharabi, torn from her home in Kibbutzberg by Hamas terrorists during the attack on October 7th, returned to Israel after being kept 491 days later. Sharabi’s family was excited to go home, but the three were significantly absent. Sharabi is not welcomed by his wife or daughter as Hamas terrorists killed them during the 2023 massacre.

Sharabi and his family lived in Kibbutzberg, a border community. Southern Israel It was hit particularly hard on October 7, 2023. In January 2024, just a few months after Hamas’ attack, Israel confirmed that Sharabi’s brother Yossi, who had been held hostage, had been killed in captivity.

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Kibbutz Be’eri saw 98 men, women and children who were slaughtered in the October 7 attack. Among them were Sharabi and Ohad Benami, who were released on February 8, 2025. The tempted murders accounted for about a tenth of the Kibbutzberg population, less than four miles from the Gaza border.

It is unclear whether Sharabi knows what happened to his wife, Lianne, daughter, Noya, 16, Yaher, and 13. His wife was killed on October 7th, 2023.

Sharabi is not the first hostage to be released from confinement in reality, even without a wife and children. Yaden BibasTaken from Kibbutz Nir Oz, he was released from Hamas prisoners of war on February 1 after spending more than 480 days as a hostage in Gaza. Yaden’s wife, Siri and their two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, remain prisoners of Hamas.

The image of Ciri, Ariel and Kufia Vivas’s invitation went viral as they saw two red-headed boys cling to their mothers. Kfir, now two years old, took him the youngest hostage in just nine months when he was invited. Ariel and KFIR are the only children to stay in Gaza on October 7th. The status of Ciri, Ariel and KFIR remain unknown.

“Sadly, my family hasn’t returned to me yet. They’re still there. My light is still there. As long as they’re there, everything is dark here. A light back to life,” Yalden said in a statement distributed by the Hostage and Missing Family Forum. This is his first statement since his release.

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While being taken prisoner, Vivas is forced to make a hostage film where he saw him breaking because Hamas claimed that his wife and child had been killed. Hamas often uses these types of videos as part of what IDF calls “psychological fear.” However, the terrorist organisations included Ciri, Kfir and Ariel on the list of 33 hostages to be released in the first phase of the ceasefire contract.

Yaden referenced the video in his statement and pleaded directly to Prime Minister Netanyahu.

“Prime Minister NetanyahuI’m talking to you in my own words now. Bring your friends back. Take everyone home. ”

The releases of Sharabi, Levy and Ben-Ami mark the fifth round of hostage releases. They were also forced to attend a ceremony with Hamas before leaving Gaza, but the images of the three men were markedly different from many people who were released before them. The three of them looked hungry and exhausted, and much of their social media compared them to Holocaust victims.

Israeli President Isers Herzog said that “debilitated” men were visual representations of “crime against humanity.” In response to the man’s image, Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed to take action, saying that their condition would not be “ignored.”

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In a Fox News Digital statement, Ruby and Hagit Chen, whose son Itai Chen remained prisoners of Hamas, noted “images that are in the way,” and Netanyahu said the remaining hostages, including his son’s home. They demanded that intensive negotiations be launched.

Hamas prisoners still have 76 hostages, many of which are believed to be alive. So far, Hamas has released 18 hostages as part of the current ceasefire deal. In exchange for hostages, Israel released more than 550 Palestinian prisoners.