by Dennis Augustine
Eli Sharabi spent 491 days as a hostage of Hamas after being kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri, just miles from Gaza. When he was finally freed, he returned to an unthinkable reality: his beloved wife Lianne, and their daughters, Noiya (16) and Yahel (13), and family dog were murdered in the October 7 massacre, along with his brother Yossi and 101 residents of the kibbutz
Eli endured torture, starvation, and the endless terror tunnels that opened into mosques and hospitals. He witnessed firsthand how Hamas hides among civilians, glorifies death, and exploits tragedy in the name of Allah. And yet—he still smiles. He chooses life.
“Our kibbutz used to help Palestinian civilians—sending money, even taking them across the border to hospitals in Israel,” Eli recalls. “Reconciling those memories with the slaughter of my family is almost impossible. But I choose to carry both truths.”
Eli’s resilience and faith in life have now reached the world stage. He is featured on the cover of Time Magazine, and his memoir, Hostage, will be released in the United States on October 7.
His story is not only one of survival, but of love, memory, and the unbreakable human spirit.
Screenshot from CBS Sunday Morning interview with Eli Sharabi / TIME Magazine
