An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier who was kidnapped by Hamas said it was heartbreaking to hear about the contentious hostage negotiations while she was in captivity — saying it felt “like our lives weren’t worth enough.”
Agam Berger, 20, said that her nearly 500 days in captivity was made all the worse by hearing the heated discussions around the cease-fire deal with Hamas, especially when people suggested the price of the truce was “too high” to pay.
“We felt like our lives weren’t worth enough,” the IDF soldier told Israel’s KAN public radio. “We have to pay a price, but we have to keep fighting for the [remaining hostages].
“It’s not their fault that they were kidnapped, they need to know that people are fighting for them,” Berger added.
During her time in captivity, Berger said she and her fellow hostages were fueled by hope from the little access they got to the outside world, including radio broadcasts and newspapers.
She said they felt like they could continue enduring Hamas’ torture whenever they heard senior Israeli officials say that they would push for a deal no matter what price they had to pay.
Berger said she wants Israel to relay that message again amid a recent strain in the cease-fire deal that has stalled negotiations for phase two, which would see the remaining living hostages freed.
Those hostages, all male IDF soldiers, are likely going through the same abuse as the other men who were held in captivity, Berger warned.
The men released by Hamas throughout the cease-fire deal have told reporters that they suffered regular beatings by Hamas operatives, with many of them forced to stay in dark, cramped rooms for hours and given little access to food and water.
The freed hostages’ accountants have left the families of those still in captivity worried that their loved ones don’t have much time left.
Dvir Kupershtein, the brother of hostage Bar Kupershtein, told Knesset on Tuesday that the hostage exchange must go on despite Israel and Hamas’ decision to halt the negotiations after accusing the other of violating the deal.
“We know that Bar is alive 100 percent, but tomorrow everything could change, or even in another hour or minute,” Kupershtein told the representatives.
Rescued hostage Noa Argamani also stressed the need to free the remaining 63 hostages, including her partner, Avinatan Or, during a speech before the Un Security Council on Tuesday.
“I can tell you this is exactly how the hostages are feeling today: Abandoned by the world,” Argamani told the council. “The deal must go on in full.”
