Freed Israeli twins Gali and Ziv Berman describe starvation, abuse during 738 days in Hamas captivity

Israeli twin brothers Gali and Ziv Berman were kidnapped during the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack from their home in Kfar Aza, a rural Israeli community close to the Gaza border. The two brothers survived for 738 difficult days in Hamas captivity. On Saturday, the Berman brothers spoke to the Israeli news outlet N12 about starvation and abuse during their difficult captivity in Gaza. 

Gali revealed that he received a video call on Oct. 7 from his fellow hostage Emily Damari who wanted him to come to her house “because she was scared.”  

"They [Hamas] shot the [Emily’s] dog, shot Emily, and told us: 'Come on, get up!’" Gali told N12. 

His brother Ziv was also abducted after Hamas terrorists set fire to his home and forced him to leave his saferoom. 

Hamas terrorists kept the two brothers separated during much of the captivity and explained that they “cannot be together,” so that “if something happens to you two, your mother won't have to cry twice.”

Ziv recalled a dramatic moment when IDF soldiers were nearby, and he feared that his Hamas captors would murder him and fellow hostage Omri Miran. 

“I don't know if it's hyperventilation or adrenaline, but my legs were shaking. Omri and I had already started to say goodbye," Ziv said, stressing that the terrorists had started arming themselves. 

“You think this is it - you're done for. That's it, I'm done. I heard about the six in Rafah, that's it, now they're going to shoot me,” he explained, referring to six Israeli hostages including American Israeli hostage Hirsh Goldberg-Polin who were murdered by Hamas terrorists in a Gaza tunnel. 

In a November interview with the Israeli Channel N12, Gali described the moment he and his brother were released in October and returned home after more than two years of captivity. 

"It's a big change, but this is our moment to start life anew," Gali explained. "Slowly, we have a family that surrounds us, friends, and we have each other. There's nothing more important than that. We have each other - that is our strength."

The twin brothers’ mother, Talia Berman, told the media outlet that she deliberately avoided media interaction during the two years that her sons were captured in Gaza. Instead, their sister, Maccabit, was managing contacts with the press. Talia recalled the impact that the captivity of the brothers had on her husband Doron who suffers from Parkinson. 

“It was the hardest day of his [Doron’s] life,” she recalled on the day they were informed that their sons were captured in Gaza. Doron was so traumatized that he refused to eat or take his medication. 

She recalled that once the brothers returned home, her husband Doron “looked at them [Gali and Ziv], looking from side to side with his beautiful green eyes, as if he couldn't believe it."

"I still pinch them and myself that it's true," Maccabit admitted. "I waited for them to be in Tali's hands, and that's it - for me, the mission was accomplished."

Despite all the trauma of the past two years, Ziv articulated optimism about the future. 

“We had a bad two years, enough is enough,” Ziv explained. His brother Gali added that “there's no point in dwelling on the bad times anymore.”