Eli Sharabi’s memoir, Hostage, is not just an account of the horrors he endured during 491 days of Hamas captivity in Gaza, or a story of his will to survive. The book is a testimony of the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

Sharabi, who lived with his wife and daughters in Kibbutz Be’eri, takes readers inside the brutal massacre of his community on October 7, 2023, reliving the terror he felt as Hamas terrorists entered his home and ripped him from his family. In his retelling, he offers a glimpse into the lives of ordinary Gazans, conveys the horror of the tunnels, the bitter starvation he experienced—his emaciated appearance when he was finally released shocked the world—and recalls with clarity the frightening and sometimes bizarre interactions with his captors as well as the deep connections he forged with other hostages.

Already a best seller in Israel and slated for release by HarperCollins in the United States on October 7, Hostage brings to life real people who have become household names to so many since that awful day, among them murdered American Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who shared words of wisdom with Sharabi in captivity; Alon Ohel, whom Sharabi was forced to leave behind when he was released on February 8, 2025; and Or Levy, freed that same day and who, like Sharabi, returned home to discover that his wife was among those murdered.

Hamas terrorists killed Sharabi’s wife, Lianne, and their two daughters, Noiya and Yahel, just hours after he was kidnapped.

“This here is rock bottom. I’ve seen it. I’ve touched it,” he writes at the end of Hostage. “Now, life.”

Sharabi has been traveling the world to share his story and demand that the hostages still in Gaza are freed. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Why did you decide to write down what happened to you?

After giving my speech at the United Nations in March, some people said to me that I have to write a book about everything that happened. They said it would be a testimony to what I went through, so I decided to do it.

What surprised you most about your Hamas captors?

The most surprising thing was that they used to cry into their pillows at night; they were in a very bad mental situation. The other was that they kept their battery charged so they could watch a Turkish soap opera every night at 10 o’clock. It was like their escape from reality. These things were surprising because when you think about terrorists, you think about somebody bad and vicious and cruel and then suddenly you hear them crying or listen as they watch a soap opera.

Did your views about Gaza and the Palestinians change during your time in captivity?

I lived on Be’eri for 35 years. We did a lot of things for our Palestinian neighbors, and we really believed that we needed to live in peace with them. But now, everything has changed. After I was released, I saw the cruel things that happened in Be’eri, not just by Hamas terrorists but also by civilians from Gaza. I didn’t meet any civilians in Gaza that were uninvolved or were not cheering the Hamas terrorists. So for me, now, everybody’s involved, and I cannot see hope.

How are you getting your life back together? 

I cannot do anything to bring back Lianne. I cannot do anything to bring back my daughters. I love life, and sitting crying all day won’t give me anything. I really, really believe that my Lianne and my daughters are really, really proud of what I’m doing now and wishing me a great life and not a sad life. I wake up every morning and say, “I choose life,” again and again. 

Ruth Marks Eglash is a Jerusalem-based veteran journalist who writes for multiple outlets