Rescued Israeli appeals to Hamas to strike deal with prisoner

Mr. Al-Qadi was kidnapped by Hamas during the attack on Israel on October 7, and is the eighth hostage rescued by Israeli forces since the start of the war in Gaza.

He returned to his village of Karkur in the Negev on Wednesday after being discharged from the hospital.

Surrounded by journalists and members of his Bedouin community, he appealed to the judge to release all hostages.

“It doesn’t matter if they are Arabs or Jews, each one of them has a family waiting for them. And they also want to feel happy.

“I hope and pray for an end to this,” he said, revealing that he received the same message during a phone call Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I told Bibi Netanyahu yesterday: ‘Work to put an end to this.'”

Mr. Judge was allowed to return home after undergoing tests in hospital.

The father of 11 had previously told relatives “about difficult days and a very harsh imprisonment,” Atta Abu Midigam, the former mayor of the southern Israeli city of Rahat, told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

“He talked about one of the hostages who was held with him for two months and died next to him,” Midgham said.

Mr. Judge also began to worry about losing his sight, Midgham added.

“He was checking his eyes to see if they were still working and functioning properly – he was putting his fingers over his eyes to check his reflexes.”

Midjam added that the judge also informed his relatives that one of the detainees with him died next to him during his detention.

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The Israeli military said troops found the judge in an underground tunnel “when he was alone.”

The military said in a statement that further details about the rescue operation could not be released “due to considerations related to the safety of our hostages, the security of our forces and national security.”

But some details have emerged about the time Mr. Al-Qadi spent in captivity.

His cousin, Fadi Abu Suhaiban, said that the judge did not receive preferential treatment because he was Muslim.

“They didn’t make any concessions to him because he’s a Muslim,” he told Haaretz. “He says they let him pray, and that’s the only thing they let him do.”

The judge’s cousin said he had no way of communicating with the outside world and lived in constant fear of bombs falling over his head.

“He could hear the IDF shelling.” [Israel Defense Forces] “He kept saying his body was shaking,” Abu Sahiban added.

“Every day felt like it was his last, not only because of his captors, but also because of the army bombing. He said every day was a danger to his life.”

Mr. Al-Qadi, a grandfather of one, worked for many years as a security guard at Kibbutz Magen, near the border between Israel and Gaza, where he was kidnapped.

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