Home sweet home

Daniella Gilboa's family reveals new details about her captivity

The bullet in her leg, her fluent Arabic, her new passion for black coffee and more.

Daniella Gilboa was one of four scouts returned to Israel last night (Saturday) under the hostage deal and she received a big hug from the people of Israel, and from the families who fought until the last minute. Dikla Sharabi and Eti Schwartz, Daniella's aunts, reenacted the exciting moments of her return and shared new details she told them when she returned.

Sharabi spoke about the anticipation mixed with fear they experienced last night in the Gilboa family and the families of the other hostages: "The excitement was at its peak, after 48 hours of a range of emotions – pressure, whether there will really be a deal and whether it is on the list. When we finally saw her coming back there was tremendous excitement, we were all together at my house and saw how she was coming back, we spoke to her on the phone."

Later, another aunt of Gilboa, Etti Schwartz, spoke with Yoav Limor and Nesli Barda. "Our lives were lost, now I finally feel I have something to live for. The girl (Danielle) feels good, she has a bullet in her leg that hasn't been removed yet, and she needs to undergo surgery - but she's a very special girl."

A few months ago, a sign of life from captivity was published, a video in which Gilboa also appeared, among other things. "All these 15 months have been an ongoing nightmare," Sharabi told Raskin. "This picture they published shook us completely. The uncertainty of a family that doesn't know what's really going on. We experienced helplessness, you can't do anything, you don't know. It was shocking, it broke me personally. She won life and we won it."

When asked if Danielle shared with them what she went through in captivity, Sharabi responded: "It was not too long a conversation, we didn't want to burden anyone. She mostly spoke to us in Arabic and we were amazed at how she really grasped the language. She told all sorts of little things like she had learned to drink black coffee. We understood from her that they watched Al Jazeera and listened to the radio, she heard her mother and was up-to-date on almost everything."

Mako contributed to this article.


0 Comments

Do not send comments that include inflammatory words, defamation, and content that exceeds the limit of good taste.

How 15 Months of Conflict Are Tearing Israeli Society Apart

Shattered Trust: Israel's Most Explosive Survey Reveals Deep Societal Cracks

Eliana Fleming | 22:01

Former Female Guard Fears Release of Terrorist Who Assaulted Her

Shocking Revelation: Terrorist who Assaulted Female Prison Guard to be Released

Eliana Fleming | 19:39

It's About What Gets Blown Up

Israel-US military aid: Why Trump's 2,000-pound bombs matter

Avi Woolf | 18:23
Get JFeed App
Download on the App Store
Get it on Google Play