After 498 days in captivity, Israeli hostages Sagui Dekel-Chen, Iair Horn, and Alexander "Sasha" Troufanov are back in Israel, receiving care at Sheba and Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centers.
CONDITIONS IN CAPTIVITY
Their release has revealed the brutal conditions they endured. Held in Hamas tunnels, they faced relentless interrogations, physical torture, and near-starvation. They drank salty, undrinkable water and lived among lice, bedbugs, and mold. Many, including Dekel-Chen, suffered untreated injuries that may now require surgery.
Horn, who was held for a time with his brother Eitan—who remains in captivity—provided Israeli authorities with crucial signs of life for other hostages.
Meanwhile, Troufanov spent much of his captivity in solitary confinement. Held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, like hostages Gadi Moses and Arbel Yehud, who also endured captivity completely alone.
Troufanov was cut off from the outside world and only learned of his father’s murder upon his return.
Dekel-Chen was held in a Gaza hospital for his first few weeks in captivity and tortured during interrogations. He carries scars from it, including a shoulder wound he suffered on October 7. He had no connection to the outside world and didn’t know if his family had survived.
He learned just three days ago that he would be released.
The Ministry of Health said the men are now in the early stages of a long rehabilitation process. Despite their physical and emotional scars, they are reunited with their families, surrounded by Israel’s top medical teams.
The strength of these survivors echoes the stories of previously released hostages, like Karina Ariev, who endured horrific abuse and returned home with severe physical and psychological wounds.
"They broke her nose, beat her, burned her with the butts (of their weapons), threw her on a scorching jeep that stood in the sun all day, and she has burns from it," said Ariev's father, Albert Ariev. "And she was injured, and they pushed and pulled her and tore her hair. Indescribable abuse."
With at least 73 hostages still in Gaza—half declared dead in absentia—their testimonies are a painful reminder of why Israel must continue fighting to bring everyone home.