Israeli Sharon Alony-Cunio survived 52 days as a hostage in Gaza with her two little girls before being released in a swap deal between Israel and Hamas. But she fears for the life of her husband, who is still trapped in the bombed Palestinian enclave.
Now home with her twins, three-year-old Julie and Emma, she is calling for the release of the remaining 137 hostages.
'Every minute is crucial. The conditions there are not good and the days last forever,” 34-year-old Alony-Cunio revealed in her first interview since being freed from Hamas captivity.
'It's Russian roulette. You don't know if they're going to keep you alive or kill you tomorrow morning just because they want to or just because their backs are against the wall,” she said.
Alony-Cunio was one of 240 people taken hostage on October 7 by Hamas gunmen who stormed the border with Israel and killed about 1,200 people.
Sharon Alony-Cunio (pictured) survived 52 days as a hostage in Gaza with her two little girls before being released in a swap deal between Israel and Hamas
The family has been torn apart after father David was held as a hostage while the other three were released
David (pictured) was separated from them three days before their release on November 27, before fighting resumed
The militants who took over her kibbutz, Nir Oz, which is just over a mile from Gaza, set her house on fire and took her away at gunpoint after she climbed out of the window.
She was taken across the border with her husband David and one of their twins, she said.
Their second daughter was held separately in Gaza for 10 days before being reunited in captivity with 12 other hostages in conditions she said were harsh, especially for children.
“My children are torn,” Alony-Cunio said. 'I am torn without my second half, the love of my life, the father of my daughters who ask me every day: where is daddy?'
David was separated from them three days before their release on November 27, before fighting resumed. Freeing the remaining hostages should be the top priority, she said.
“I'm terrified that I'm going to get bad news that he's not alive,” Alony-Cunio said.
Israeli hostages released on November 26, 2023: Top L-R: Hagar Brodutch and children Ofri, Yuval and Oriya, Roni Krivoi; center: Chen Almog Goldstein and her children Agam, Gal and Tal Almog; bottom: Avigail Idan, Elma Avraham, Aviva Siegel, and siblings Ela and Dafna Elyakim
About 13 Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity: Margalit Moses, Adina Moshe, Danielle Aloni and her daughter Emilia, Doron Asher and her daughters Raz and Aviv, Hanna Katzir, Keren Munder and her son Ohad, Ruti Munder, Yaffa Adar and Hannah Perry
Pictured from top left to bottom right: Bilal and Aisha Ziyadne, 18 and 17, Ilana Gritzewsky, 30, Nili Margalit, 40, Shani Goren, 29, Amit Soussana, 40, Sapir Cohen, 29, and Mia Schem, 21
'We are not just names on a poster. We are people, of flesh and blood. My girls' father is there, my partner, and many other fathers, children, mothers, brothers.'
“Everyone gave up food for (the girls). You don't know if there will be (food) in the evening, so in the morning you save something for the evening. Everything is very calculated, a quarter of a pita, half a pita to save for the next morning.'
Sometimes they were given dates and cheese to eat and sometimes they distributed meat rice and rations for six under twelve.
Waiting to go to the toilet was a problem for the girls, she says, so they had to use a sink and a rubbish bin.
“Sometimes, when the power went out, they would let us open the door, draw the curtain, and we would whisper. How do you keep a child together for twelve hours just by whispering?'
The US has provided unwavering diplomatic and military support to Israel's campaign, even as it has urged Israel to minimize civilian casualties and further mass displacement.
Despite not being the focus of Israel's military campaign against Hamas, 267 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli forces since October 7.
Residents said there was heavy fighting in and around the southern town of Khan Younis, where Israeli ground forces opened a new attack line last week.
Her group of hostages was held above ground and moved a few times, she said, but because the memories were still raw and her husband was still inside, Alony-Cunio was hesitant to provide more details about her capture and time as a hostage.
But one of the biggest hardships, she said, was simply not knowing what was being done to get them out.
'Every day there is crying, frustration and fear. How long are we staying here? Have they forgotten us? Have they given up on us?'
More than a hundred hostages were released during a seven-day ceasefire. The rest are still being held incommunicado as Israel bombs Gaza and promises to eliminate Hamas.
More than 18,000 people have been killed in Gaza so far, according to local health authorities.
Many families of the 137 hostages still in Gaza, whose names and photos appear on posters along Israel's streets, are fearful.
The focus of the conflict has shifted to the south of the besieged area after heavy fighting and bombing left much of the north in ruins and forced nearly two million people to flee their homes.
The focus of the conflict has shifted to the south of the besieged area, following heavy fighting and bombing that left much of the north in ruins.
Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it removes Hamas from power, dismantles its military capabilities and returns all the dozens of hostages still held by Palestinian militants.
But the brutal bombing, which the Hamas-led Health Ministry says has killed 18,000 Palestinians in Gaza, “reduces the opportunity” for a new ceasefire, Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said.
Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it removes Hamas from power, dismantles its military capabilities and returns all the dozens of hostages still held by Palestinian militants after they were captured in the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel that ignited the war.
The US has provided unwavering diplomatic and military support to the campaign, even as it has urged Israel to minimize civilian casualties and further mass displacement.
Residents said there was heavy fighting in and around the southern town of Khan Younis, where Israeli ground forces opened a new attack line last week, and that fighting was still ongoing in parts of Gaza City and the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza . , where large areas have been reduced to rubble.
