Rescued Israeli man pleads for hostage deal with Hamas

A Bedouin Arab man rescued in Gaza has called on Israel to reach a deal with Hamas to free all remaining hostages, as details of his suffering in captivity were revealed.

Kaid Farhan Elkadi, 52, was rescued on Tuesday in a “complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip”, the Israeli military said.

After returning to his village in southern Israel on Wednesday, Mr Elkadi said his “joy was not complete as there were still people detained” on both sides.

Meanwhile, a former Israeli mayor said Mr Elkadi had barely seen any sunlight for eight months.

Mr Elkadi was kidnapped by Hamas in an attack on Israel on October 7 and is the eighth hostage rescued by Israeli forces since the war in Gaza began.

On Wednesday, he returned to the village of Karkur in the Negev desert after being discharged from hospital.

Surrounded by reporters and members of the Bedouin community, Mr. Elkadi pleaded for the release of all the hostages.

“It doesn’t matter if they are Arab or Jewish, they all have a family waiting for them. They also want to feel joy.

“I hope and pray that this ends,” he said, revealing that he had a similar message in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

“Yesterday I told Bibi Netanyahu: ‘Take action to end this situation.'”

US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators are trying to broker a ceasefire deal under which Hamas would release 104 hostages still being held, including 34 believed to be dead, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Mr. Elkadi was allowed to go home after undergoing tests at the hospital.

The father of 11 had previously told relatives “about difficult days, a very cruel captivity,” Ata Abu Medigam, former mayor of the southern Israeli town of Rahat, told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

“He talked about one of the hostages who was held with him for two months and died next to him,” Mr Medigam said.

Mr Medigam added that Mr Elkadi also began to worry about losing his eyesight.

“He would check his eyes to see if they were still active and functional – he would put his fingers over his eyes to check the reflexes.”

Mr Medigam said Mr Elkadi also told relatives that one of his cellmates died alongside him during his imprisonment.

The Israeli military said forces found Mr Elkadi in an underground tunnel “when he was alone”.

In a statement, the military said it could not release any further details about the rescue “out of consideration for the safety of the hostages, the security of the force and national security”.

But few details have emerged about Mr Elkadi’s time in captivity.

His cousin, Fadi Abu Sahiban, said Mr Elkadi was not given preferential treatment because he was Muslim.

“They didn’t give him any concessions because he was a Muslim. He said they let him pray, that was the only thing they allowed him to do,” he told Haaretz.

Mr Elkadi’s cousin said he had no way to contact the outside world and was constantly afraid of bombs exploding overhead.

He “will hear IDF shelling” [Israel Defense Forces] “He said his body was shaking constantly,” said Mr. Abu Sahiban.

“Every day he was certain it would be his last, not only because of his captors, but also because of the military shelling. He said every day was a life-threatening situation.”

Mr Elkadi, a grandfather of one, worked for years as a security guard at Kibbutz Magen, near the Israel-Gaza border, where he was kidnapped.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage.

More than 40,530 people have died in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

Indirect talks to broker a ceasefire and release hostages have continued in Cairo in recent days, but there has been no sign of a breakthrough on key sticking points, including Netanyahu’s demand that Israel maintain troops along Gaza’s border with Egypt, which Hamas has rejected.

Two other Bedouin Arabs – Yousef Zyadna and his son, Hamza – were among the surviving hostages, while the body of a third, Mhamad el-Atrash, is still in Hamas custody.

Another Bedouin, Hisham al-Sayedhas been detained in Gaza since 2015.