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After 491 harrowing days in Hamas captivity, and the murder of his wife and two daughters, Eli Sharabi is sharing a message of gratitude.
After 491 days in Hamas captivity, and the murder of his wife, two daughters and brother, Eli Sharabi has emerged with a perspective that defies comprehension. "I'm lucky," he says, a statement that seems impossible coming from a man who has endured unimaginable suffering and devastating loss.
Sharabi shared his harrowing experience with Israeli Channel 12's "Uvda" program in a raw, unflinching interview that reveals not just the horrors of captivity, but the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit.
"If there's one thing I've been saying to everyone from the start – family, medical staff, friends – it's this: Don't walk on eggshells around me," Sharabi emphasized. "We talk about everything. The loss, the captivity – whatever people want."
On October 7, 2023, terrorists stormed Sharabi's home in Kibbutz Be'eri. "The scene was simply horrific, a fear unlike anything else. Ten terrorists in the house – two grab me, two grab the girls and stand with them in the kitchen," Sharabi recounted.
His British-born wife Leanne desperately repeated "British passport," hoping it would protect them. As he was being taken, Sharabi called out to his daughters, "I will come back!" – words that would become his survival mantra for the next 16 months.
"I just went into survival mode," he explained. "No matter what happens to me now, no matter what they do to me, I'm coming back. I will never forget the look in their eyes, how terrified they were."
Eli Sharabi entering the hospital in Israel upon his release
It was only after his release that Sharabi learned the devastating truth – his wife and both daughters, Noya and Yahel, were murdered that day. His brother was also murdered in captivity.
Images of Sharabi's release ceremony shocked the world, showing him emaciated and frail, reminiscent of Holocaust survivors being liberated from concentration camps. The physical toll of his captivity was immediately apparent, a visible testament to the brutality he endured.
For over a year, Sharabi was held 50 meters underground in tunnels that he describes as so well fortified that military rescue operations would have been nearly impossible without risking hostages' lives.
I was chained for a year and four months, with thick, heavy locks that tore into my flesh.
"The chains on my legs never left me from the day I arrived in Gaza until the last day," he revealed. "Some people were shackled only part of the time – I was chained for a year and four months, with thick, heavy locks that tore into my flesh. You sleep with it, you wake up with it, you pray with it," he said of the iron chains that bound him for over a year.
Sharabi and his fellow captives endured severe malnutrition. "The idea that a free person can just take fruit or drink water—that's what you dream about every day. You don't care about the beatings, even when they break your ribs. I didn't care – just give me half a pita," he said. "At some point, you can't believe what's happening to your own body. During the worst periods, we ate once a day – a bowl of pasta, maybe 250-300 calories."
Showers came once a month, if at all, with just half a bucket of cold water.
Despite the horrors, Sharabi formed profound connections with fellow hostages. He spent time with Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Ori Danino, and Almog Sarusi before they were murdered. "After three days with them, it was as if I had known them all my life," he said. Hersh shared words from Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl that sustained Sharabi throughout his captivity: "When there is a 'why,' one always finds the 'how.'"
The power of faith is crazy, I felt I had someone watching over me.
For most of his captivity, he was held with Or Levy, Eliya Cohen, and Alon Ohel, with whom he formed a bond that helped sustain them through the darkest times. Speaking about Alon, who remains the last hostage in their tunnel, Sharabi said with emotion, "I know everything about him, about his family, every date, every hobby of his sister, his brother, his parents, I know everything. How can we leave him behind?"
One of the most surprising revelations from Sharabi's testimony was his unexpected turn to prayer. "I am not a religious person, but there, from the first day I was kidnapped, every morning I say, 'Shema Israel,' which I have never said in my life. The power of faith is crazy, I felt I had someone watching over me." he shared.
This spontaneous embrace of the most fundamental Jewish prayer – "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One" – speaks to how adversity can awaken spiritual connections that lie dormant in ordinary life. In his darkest moments, Sharabi found himself reaching for the ancient words that have sustained the Jewish people through centuries of persecution.
Hams captivity survivor Eli Sharabi: I am not a religious person, but there, from the first day I was kidnapped, every morning I say, "Shema Israel," which I have never said in my life. The power of faith is crazy. pic.twitter.com/CoAT7H5Ysr
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) February 27, 2025
Sharabi's perspective on his suffering is remarkable.
"I'm not angry," he said. "I'm lucky. Lucky that I had Leanne for 30 years. Lucky that I had those amazing daughters for so many years. Lucky that they didn't kill me. Lucky that after 16 months, I was able to come back to my family. I'm lucky."
Eli with his wife and daugthers
Jewish tradition teaches that how we respond to suffering defines us more than the suffering itself. The Talmud tells us that "One who blesses God for the bad that happens just as for the good will be rewarded with good" (Berachot 60b).
While Sharabi's statement isn't about blessing the tragedy, his ability to focus on gratitude for what he had rather than bitterness over what was taken shows a profound spiritual strength.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote that "To be a Jew is to be an agent of hope." Eli Sharabi embodies this idea. He doesn't deny the horror of what happened; he speaks openly about it. But he refuses to let that horror define his relationship to life.
As we approach Purim, a holiday that celebrates the Jewish people's survival against those who sought to destroy them, Sharabi's testimony reminds us of the indomitable Jewish spirit that has sustained our people through millennia of persecution. The Book of Esther’s famous verse – "For the Jews there was light and joy, gladness and honor" – speaks to our people's ability to find light even after periods of darkness, a tradition that Sharabi embodies with his extraordinary perspective.
His story challenges us to consider: How might we cultivate such gratitude in our own lives? How can we honor the memory of those we've lost by appreciating what we still have?
Eli Sharabi, through his profound gratitude for the years he shared with his family, teaches us that even in our darkest moments, we can choose how we carry our memories forward and find meaning in tragedy.
His testimony is not just about survival – it's about choosing life, even when that choice seems impossible.
What a unique human being! Such that the Ribono Shel Olam (Master of the Universe) most likely looked upon him when he was born, and declared- for this man alone, it was worth planning and creating the world!". None of us would want to be tested as he was. Yet, let us not forget that Mr. Sharabi is not the only person who has been selected by the Al-mighty to serve as an example of a man of faith, under challenging circumstances. Our history is filled with examples. It is truly sad that in each generation we seem to need fresh reminders of our human resilience in the face of life's frequently horrific life experiences. May Hashem protect us from the need for any more such suffering.
For myself, I would find it EXTREMELY difficult to maintain either hope, much less anything but extreme anger at my captors - esp. knowing they had killed other family members. That, however, do believe is the key - the continuation of gratitude, even in the face of such EVIL, is what ultimately defeats such hatred...PRAYERS - for Eli, his family and friends, for an end, finally, to the perpetrators of all of this, forever!
The presence of evil is common place for the Jews. Yet we are not complacent, but hopeful. Yet an account such as this challenges our hope; countering it with an almost equal force. But hope shines forth from G-D, Evil does not. Hope is, therefore, eternal. Evil is not. Hope is one of those inextinguishable weapons Jews have. Prayers for Sharabi (wonderful example), Mr. Bibas(another great example) and countless more.
He calls himself "lucky" and I guess I have to accept that, but I would respectfully disagree. The people who murdered his family and captured him were so "off the charts" in evil it is hard to understand. All we can do is make sure that we do as much as we can to fight this evil in any way we can.
I think he has the same mentality like people that survived the Holocaust, that they will tell the story what they went through and tell the world, my mother's ( obm) whole family and others were murdered and nobody was left from their family but them, I think Holocaust Survivors felt the same way they must go on and rebuild and a lot of Holocaust Survivors had to accept their lost sadly and remarry, unfortunately they can't bring their family back in this lifetime, like the Holocaust Survivors before him they will have to cope with survivors guilt why am I alive and not others from my family all these people need therapy unfortunately Holocaust Survivors did not get therapy and their descendants had to live with the damage what the enemy did to them, the same here
What they went through doesn't go away a lot of Holocaust Survivors had nightmares what happened to them, same here they will try to go on but it is very hard to do from my experience as a child of a Holocaust Survivor( obm) always talking about your family and stories what they went through you never get over it
Truly in awe of this remarkable human being. Mi K'amcha Yisrael?
An extraordinary man. An extraordinary story. God bless.