Danielle Aloni, who was released from Hamas captivity in November 2023 as part of a prisoner swap deal, has revealed that the terrorists tried to convince her to leave her daughter Emilia, then five years old, in Gaza.
Speaking in an interview with Kan Reshet Bet, Aloni said, "They tried to convince Emilia to stay there, and that I should leave her there. We were like sitting ducks in a shooting range, there were serious IDF strikes and there was a fear that if the army came close, they would shoot us before they themselves died."
"I see the soldiers fighting in Gaza and they tell me, 'We went only five meters underground and we couldn't breathe. We stayed 20-40 meters underground. Without oxygen, you can't do anything."
She added, "There was a lack of food, it was cramped, the conditions were terrible, and there was psychological terrorism."
"Women and girls were raped there, they sodomize them, torture them physically and mentally. They trample them, their bodies and their respect, and no one comes to save them, no one. What hope do the people there have?"
When asked if she can imagine what is happening to the hostages today, she said, "I don't dare. I am afraid to think about it. I am always saying that if we had stayed there a bit longer, we would not have survived."