Farahan, who was rescued by IDF forces yesterday (Tuesday), shared initial details of his ordeal in Hamas captivity in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the report, Al-Qadi was isolated for the last few months, having been separated from the other hostages towards the end of December.
In the past week, Al-Qadi was left alone with only food in a tunnel and was abandoned by his captors.
During his captivity, Al-Qadi was frequently counted by the terrorists, including in the final week. He struggled to recall specific timelines but mentioned experiencing a significant crisis after one of the hostages with him died.
A phrase he repeated several times was: "You don’t understand, there’s Gaza Above and Gaza Below."
Al-Qadi requested to be discharged today to see his 90-year-old mother, who is in poor health, as reported by Yulan Cohen.
"Appeared Weak and Malnourished"
According to The New York Times, Al-Qadi was "accidentally" located during an operation led by the Shayetet 13 unit, which was searching tunnels for Hamas militants in the southern Gaza Strip. At one point, they found Al-Qadi alone in a room with no guards, inside a tunnel approximately 20 meters deep. The forces reportedly did not need to fight to rescue Al-Qadi, unlike previous hostage rescues.
The report also mentioned that the soldiers who discovered Al-Qadi initially feared he might be a Hamas operative but soon realized he was an Israeli hostage. The soldiers noted that he appeared weak and malnourished and was unable to climb out of the tunnel on his own.
