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- From living nightmare to movie-like dream, Luis Har tells-all about surviving Hamas captivity
From living nightmare to movie-like dream, Luis Har tells-all about surviving Hamas captivity
The former hostage opens up about how he survived 129 days in Gaza along with his brother-in-law, and how he is slowly rebuilding his life under a new spotlight
It was a flawless rescue operation that, for a brief moment at least, brought smiles and hope to Israel. A month-and-a-half after returning from Gaza, former hostage Luis Har is opening up about how he survived 129 days in captivity, and how he is slowly rebuilding his life.
Luis, who was rescued along with his partner's brother Fernando Merman, recounted the helicopter ride back to Israel, which was broadcast on Israeli media. "I asked the soldier to pinch me, to make sure I was awake and this wasn't just another dream."
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Luis has not been able to go home yet to kibbutz Nir Itzhak, which was shattered on that Black Saturday morning. But he has visited Hostage's Square, where he was given a hero's welcome. Volunteers and visitors alike stopped to greet him, sometimes with tears springing to their eyes, asking Luis for more details about the movie-like rescue mission that brought him back.
Luis himself is in awe that such a place exists. He recounted that he and Fernando would debate whether there was some organization that had been established to care for the hostage issue, whether there were protests, whether anyone remembered or cared about them.
Fernando and Luis were taken hostage along with his partner Clara Merman, and her sister and niece Gabriela and Mia Leimberg, and even Mia's dog Bella. The women were released after 54 days in the first hostage-ceasefire deal brokered in November. The men were sure they would follow soon — until the airstrikes resumed.
Another 75 long days dragged by. Luis said there is no one in the world he knows better than Fernando, having spent so much time alone together. He revealed they would even "quarrel for fun," one of the creative ways to make the time go by. Each one ensured that the other didn't break down.
Luis's life was changed not just by the trauma of captivity, but the ongoing attention he receives now back in Israel. He is stopped by well-wishers wherever he goes, no longer a "simple kibbutznik." One day, he hopes, he can return home to his anonymous life of making pizza and taking community dance classes.
But for now, between tests and treatments, he has joined the fight to bring the remaining 134 hostages home. He knows, better than anyone, that every second counts.
Watch Luis tell his full story here:
Read more stories about Luis and the Merman-Leimberg family:
• 'Thin, pale, and very tired': Hostage family reunited after 129 days in captivity >>
• 'When I saw you, I felt the safest in the world,' liberated hostages thank troops >>
• 'I felt like I was rescuing my own father': SWAT team members recount daring Rafah operation >>