A former hostage of Hamas has confirmed that she was held by kidnappers in a hospital in the Gaza Strip prior her to release.
Ada Sagi, 75, was kidnapped from her home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages. She was freed from captivity during a week-long truce in November.
Speaking to BBC’s Radio 4 on Wednesday, Sagi said she was moved between a number of locations in Gaza during her time there.
After 49 days in captivity, Sagi said she was told, to her disbelief, “You are going home.” She said was put in a car with other hostages heading to the Rafah Border Crossing with Egypt, but after something went wrong, they were taken to what she believes was Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
“People say that they are not involved,” Sagi said of the Palestinian hospital staff. “They’re involved… and getting money for each of us.”
The BBC published a denial from hospital director Dr. Atef al-Hoot.
The Israel Defense Forces carried out a raid against Hamas in the area of Nasser Hospital in late February, with the military saying that it captured some 200 terror operatives who were holed up at the medical center.
The IDF has operated in hospitals in several instances during the war, offering evidence of their repeated use by Gaza terror groups to stage operations, as well as to hold hostages. Though hospitals are protected sites in war under international law, they lose their protected status if used for military purposes.
Sagi was ultimately released on November 28 after 53 days in captivity, as part of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar and the United States between Hamas and Israel.
She told the BBC that she was first held with other hostages in a family home with children and then moved to an apartment in Khan Younis the following day.
The owner of that apartment, according to her account, was a nurse who was being paid to guard them, having sent his wife and children to stay with relatives.
“I heard them say… NIS 70 ($19) for a day,” Sagi was quoted as saying.
Sagi was born in Tel Aviv in 1948, the daughter of Holocaust survivors from Poland. A mother of three, she learned Arabic to make friends with her neighbors and later taught the language to others as a way to improve communication with the Palestinians who live on the southeastern border of the Gaza Strip.
“[For] many years, I believed in peace. This is the reason I started to teach Arabic at school. But from year to year I understand that Hamas don’t want it. Also, people who believe in peace, they’re afraid [of] Hamas,” she said in the interview.
Asked if she believes in peace now, she answered sadly, “I don’t believe in peace now. I don’t believe, sorry. I changed my mind.”
It is believed that 116 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — though dozens are no longer alive.
Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report