On the morning of October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists butchered almost 1,200 Israeli men, women, and children, including babies, in the worst attack against Jews since the Holocaust.
When they broke into Eli Sharabi's home, he gave himself up to spare his wife and two teenage daughters, but they were murdered anyway.
For a year and four months (491 days), he was held hostage – first by a so-called civilian Palestinian family, then in the Gazan terror tunnels. He and three hostages who had been kidnapped from the Nova music festival lived in the dark with insects and rats. They were tortured, beaten, and starved, given only moldy pita to eat while their captors ate "like kings" from the boxes of humanitarian aid intended for civilians.
He lost 60 pounds in captivity (pictures show him before and after).
Shafir Botner was a helicopter medic with the Israeli version of the Red Cross. He says he can still remember almost every detail as he evacuated and treated the wounded for three days straight.
His work only stopped when a stray piece of flak brought down his helicopter. He says it was a miracle he survived.
When it comes to antisemitism, Sharabi and Botner know what they are talking about.
"I think the hate for the Jews is something unbearable," Sharabi laments.
In his view, that is especially true in Western democracies.
"I've been in the U.K. I've been in the United States a few times since I was released. I've been in Australia, and I've seen all these protests and the hate for the Jews," he accounts.
Sharabi has pushed for the release of the remaining 48 hostages, of whom 20 are believed to be alive, since his own release in February 2025. He met with President Donald Trump during his U.S. visit and addressed the U.N. Security Council.
He says President Trump has been great, but the leaders of rest of the world need to step up to the plate.
"You don't have to agree with the Israeli policy or with the Israeli government," he notes. "I don't all the time, [but] the politicians have to have a stronger voice against antisemitism."
Botner says the ongoing war is against more than just Hamas; it is against Islam and its global and oppressive aspirations.
"Israel is just a tiny piece of a bigger game," he submits. "As we see it, we are fighting not just for Israel, but for the rest of the world. They just don't see it right now."
Over the weekend, Hamas agreed to release all Israeli hostages, pending conditions like a permanent, comprehensive ceasefire, the Israeli military's withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, and the unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave. Negotiations to finalize a deal based on President Trump's Gaza ceasefire plan are underway in Egypt.
Botner does not think the politics of the conflict are unimportant, but he believes the people in Israel simply want quiet.
"We want peace. We want to live. We want our hostages back," he tells AFN. "You can do whatever you want in Gaza."
For Sharabi, there can be no closure until the return of all the hostages, including his closest companion in captivity, Alon Ohel, and the body of his older brother, Yossi.
