Hamas captivity survivor Raz Ben Ami, who was released in November after 54 days in captivity, spoke at a Knesset discussion held by the Committee for the Advancement of Women's Status on the issue of hostages.
Ben Ami told the MKs: "Do you know that feeling of trying to sleep in any way you can? Tossing and turning on your stomach, back, one side and then the other side. But nothing helps because the moment you close your eyes, there is one image that appears and disturbs your sleep. You try blinking several times to make it disappear or think hard about something else, but it doesn't go away."
"So this is how I've been going to sleep for 132 nights now.
She said: "For the first 54 nights, I didn't sleep at all because a terrorist sat with a gun and watched me all night or recited the Quran in my room so that I would hear Arabic in my head and not sleep. 132 nights that I imagine the image of my husband, Ohad, before going to sleep, and I can't close my eyes because I'm afraid to see the suffering look on his face and know that I have no way to help him."
"132 nights that I am tormented by mental and physical pains because I know what they are going through, and I know that I do not have the ability to go and save them," she said.
Ben Ami reminded the MKs that her husband remains in captivity in Gaza. "My dear Ohad, the father of my daughters, was torn from my life and is in an endless loop of suffering that I have no way to end. I worry about him, and most of all, I miss him. I miss his hug, I miss feeling secure with him, I miss his encouragement and the knowledge that he is by my side, and everything will be okay."
"I am living in endless uncertainty; I no longer have fresh air to breathe. I don't have a home; my family is scattered across the country, and I don't have the safe ground that Ohad gives me. If I returned 132 days ago and I'm in poor health, in a very difficult mental state, and I can't keep my head above water - then what will happen to my husband after half a year there?! Enough! I cry enough! Help me, get him out of there. Any deal on the table, take it and save whoever can be saved," she concluded.