Israeli hostage freed by Hamas claims her captor wanted to marry her and have a family

New Delhi: After being kidnapped on October 7 from her Kibbutz Be’eri home and kept hostage for 50 days, an 18-year-old Israeli lady said that one of her Hamas kidnappers desired a marriage and for her to have his children.

Noga Weiss remembered that on day 14 [of her imprisonment], the guy handed her a ring, and she remained with him until day 50. According to The Times of Israel, he said to me, “Everyone will be released, but you will stay here with me and have my children.” She said, “I pretended to laugh so he wouldn’t shoot me in the head.”

On October 7, 2023, hundreds of Hamas terrorists stormed Israel while Noga Weiss was at home in Kibbutz Be’eri. Ilan, her 56-year-old father, never came back from his trip to join the Kibbutz emergency squad. His death on that day was subsequently verified, and his corpse was transported into Gaza.

According to Ms. Noga, the militants fired around 40 bullets at the door before they were able to enter. She claimed to have seen the WhatsApp exchanges and understood what was going on. She said that after stating that their home was on fire, people stopped responding.

Shiri, the 53-year-old mother of Ms. Weiss, advised her daughter to hide beneath the bed because she believed Noga would be safe and she would be killed by the militants upon seeing it. “Mom instructed me to hide beneath the bed because she believed that if I did, they would come and shoot her immediately. They arrived and took her away as I hid beneath the bed. I heard gunshots after they removed her, so I assumed she had been killed rather than abducted,” Ms. Noga said.

But on October 7, Ms. Shiri was also abducted and sent to Gaza. A few days later, she was back with her kid. When a lady dressed like an Arab woman came, Ms. Noga claimed she realized it was her mother. “I believed I was alone, and I believed they had murdered her. I’m no longer alone since she’s suddenly alive,” she said.

Ms. Noga disclosed, nevertheless, that her mother was only given to her because one of the abductors intended to wed her. Ms. Noga said that they brought her mother there so she would approve of the marriage. “One of the Hamas members said he loved me and wanted to marry me,” she added.

Meytal, one of Ms. Noga’s sisters, said that while her mother attempted to gently deny the proposal, Ms. Shiri had to yell at him until he gave in.

Speaking of that terrible day, Ms. Noga stated that while she attempted to flee and hide from the terrorists, one of them saw her and led her outside into the yard. “I was handcuffed by about forty terrorists who had Kalashnikov rifles aimed at me, and I saw the bodies of people I knew from the kibbutz.” They got me into a vehicle and drove off after a short while.”

“I didn’t understand why they were delaying shooting me,” she claimed, describing how hundreds of people, including children, attempted to beat her and applauded as the vehicle entered Gaza.

Later on, Noga Weiss said that she was unable to “digest it, neither then nor now.” People are not aware of what fear feels like. I spent 50 days there, day and night, thinking that either they would get weary of me and come shoot me, or they would eventually decide they didn’t need me. Imagine that they lock us in the room at night, so they sneak up on us and shoot us through the door.”

As long as there are captives in the strip, she said, she will not be able to grieve for her father. “They stay for an incalculably long period of time. They once provided us with two days’ worth of half a liter of water. It is illogical. This is not how you are going to live for 200 days.”