In a raw and unflinching memoir, Eli Sharabi, a survivor of 491 days in Hamas captivity, recounts the harrowing ordeal of his abduction from Kibbutz Beâeri on October 7th, 2023, the loss of his wife and daughters, and his unyielding resolve to survive.
âI refuse to let myself drown in pain. I am surviving. I am a hostage. In the heart of Gaza. A stranger in a strange land. In the home of a Hamas-supporting family. And I'm getting out of here. I have to. Iâm getting out of here. Iâm coming home.ââEli SharabiÂ
On October 7th, 2023, Hamas terrorists stormed Kibbutz Beâeri, shattering the peaceful life Eli Sharabi had built with his British wife, Lianne, and their teenage daughters, Noiya and Yahel. Dragged barefoot out his front door while his family watched in horror, Sharabi was plunged into the suffocating darkness of Gazaâs tunnels where he endured 491 days in captivity. As war raged above him, Sharabi held onto the hope that he would be reunited with his loved ones.
In the first memoir by a released Israeli hostage, and the fastest-selling book in Israelâs history, Sharabi offers a searing firsthand account of survival under unimaginable conditionsâstarvation, isolation, physical beatings, and psychological abuse at the hands of his captors.
Eli Sharabiâs story is one of hunger and heartache, of physical pain, longing, loneliness and a helplessness that threatens to destroy the soul. But it is also a story of strength, of resilience, and of the human spiritâs refusal to surrender. It is about the camaraderie forged in captivity, the quiet power of faith, and one manâs unrelenting decision to choose life, time and time again.
Reminiscent of Elie Wieselâs Night and Laura Hillenbrandâs Unbroken, Hostage is a profound witness to history, so that it shall be neither forgotten nor erased.