Israeli hostage says faith sustained him in Hamas captivity

HOLON, Israel (Reuters) -Released Israeli hostage Bar Kupershtein says he managed to survive two years in a cramped Hamas tunnel in Gaza with no sunlight, little food and regular beatings, by clinging to his belief that he was in God's hands the entire time.

Kupershtein, 23, was released on October 13 along with 19 other hostages in exchange for some 2,000 Palestinian convicts and detainees, as part of the Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that has largely halted two years of devastating war.

Kupershtein was a soldier on leave working as an usher at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, when rockets began raining down on the revellers and Hamas militants came storming in from Gaza, ploughing through the site, killing 364 people.

A trained medic, he was dragged back to Gaza with dozens more hostages by the militants as he was trying to rescue party-goers and images of him bound on a floor emerged on social media soon after his abduction.

HOSTAGES SUPPORTED EACH OTHER IN TINY SPACE

In his first interview to international media, Kupershtein said that after the first few weeks, he was taken down to Hamas' tunnels where he was held with five more hostages confined to a space he said was no bigger than the size of a mattress.

"We were there for each other, we supported each other, as hard as it was and when we took the beatings. I remember, after they beat us, we just sat hugging each other, telling each other that we will not let them defeat us," he said.

They all learned Arabic during captivity and the guards often tried to convert him to Islam, Kupershtein said, which he and his fellow captives resisted. Every Friday night, he said they insisted on saying the Jewish Sabbath Eve blessings.

A source in Hamas' armed wing denied the hostages were abused and said that their religious beliefs were respected. If individual guards had spoken about Islam or offered religious guidance, the source said, they were doing so of their own accord and not as part of any Hamas policy.

Some of the Palestinian detainees released from Israeli detention have also given accounts of abuse during their incarceration. Israel is investigating dozens of cases but denies any systematic abuse.

HOSTAGE PRAYED FOR HIS LIFE TO BE SAVED

One of the scariest days, Kupershtein said, was when a guard threatened to kill three of the hostages and ordered the captives to choose which ones would die, a threat he ultimately did not carry out.

"I just remember praying to God, begging him, saying 'save me, I'm in your hands now,'" Kupershtein said. "It was a sentence I often said in captivity." He later learnt that his mother Julie had said it to one of the Hamas guards who had contacted her by telephone while her son was being held and threatened him.

"She told him 'My son is not in your hands, he is in the hands of God, and you are also in the hands of God'," Kupershtein said, holding up a bracelet printed with what has since become a family slogan: "Always in the Hands of God."

(Writing by Maayan LubellEditing by Alexandra Hudson)