Freed from Hamas, Ruti Munder recounts worsening conditions in her 50-day captivity, including a cramped room and sleeping on chairs; her son was killed, and her husband remains in Gaza.
By Tia Goldenberg, AP
An Israeli hostage freed by Hamas said in an interview that she was initially fed well in captivity until conditions worsened and people became hungry. She was kept in a “suffocating” room and slept on plastic chairs with a sheet for nearly 50 days.
In one of the first interviews with a freed hostage, 78-year-old Ruti Munder told Israel’s Channel 13 television that she spent the entirety of her time with her daughter, Keren, and grandson, Ohad Munder-Zichri, who celebrated his ninth birthday in captivity.
Her account, broadcast Monday, adds to the trickle of information about the experience of captives held in Gaza.
Munder was snatched Oct. 7 from her home in Nir Oz, a kibbutz in southern Israel. Her husband, Avraham, also 78, was taken hostage too and remains in Gaza. Her son was killed in the attack.
Initially, they ate “chicken with rice, all sorts of canned food and cheese,” Munder told Channel 13. “We were OK.”