A former Hamas hostage says her seven weeks in captivity were like being forced to play “Russian roulette” every day – but her faith in humanity was restored when fellow captives readily gave up their meager food portions to her 3-year-old twin daughters to help them survive.
Sharon Alony-Cunio, 34, described the nightmare she and her family experienced when Hamas broke into their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7 and kidnapped her, her husband David and their twin girls Emma and Yuli.
Crammed together in a tight space with 12 other hostages at first, her family was at the mercy of the terror group, which then began constantly moving them across Gaza to flee from the advancing Israeli army and airstrikes, Alony-Cunio told Reuters.
“It’s Russian roulette. You don’t know whether tomorrow morning they’ll keep you alive or kill you just because they want to or just because their backs are against the wall,” she said.
The mother of two said one of her toddler girls was separated from them for 10 days before eventually being returned, while her husband was removed from the group three days before the mom and twins were freed last month. He remains captive.
Alony-Cunio said that while held, her family and the other hostages with them struggled to sustain themselves on pita bread provided by Hamas, along with the rare treats of dates, cheese, rice and meat rations that needed to be split among them.
“Everyone gave up food for [Emma and Yuli],” Alony-Cunio said of the kindness from her fellow hostages.
But food wasn’t the only obstacle, Alony-Cunio said. She said she often struggled to keep her children’s minds preoccupied, as they could do nothing but whisper and sit in a room that would sometimes go dark for hours at a time after the power was cut.
There was also the trouble of allowing the twins to use the bathroom, with Alony-Cunio noting that they often had to go in a sink or in a trash bin.
As she struggled to help her children survive the 52-day ordeal, Alony-Cunio said the worst part was being kept in the dark of what was happening in the outside world and if there were any efforts to free them.
“Every day, there is crying, frustration and anxiety,” she said. ” ‘How long are we going to be here? Have they forgotten about us? Have they given up on us?’ ”
Alony-Cunio and her twins were among the 11 Israeli hostages freed during the fourth day of the temporary truce agreement between Hamas and the Jewish nation, which ultimately saw more than 100 people released by the end of November.
During the family’s time in captivity, their relatives became vocal advocates for the immediate release of the hostages, urging both the Israeli and US governments to do everything in their power to negotiate a deal.
Now Alony-Cunio has joined her family in calling on Israel to make the hostages the top priority in the war against Hamas, hoping that soon she and her daughters can be reunited with her husband David.
“I am petrified I will get bad news that he is no longer alive,” Alony-Cunio said.
“We are not just names on a poster,” she said of the hostages. “We are human beings, flesh and blood.
“The father of my girls is there, my partner, and many other fathers, children, mothers, brothers.”
With Post wires