Hagar Brodutch, currently living in Toronto with her family, was trapped in Gaza as Israel began its assault
Hagar Brodutch, her three young children and the daughter of a family friend were being held captive by Hamas, huddled in total darkness, when Israel’s retaliatory bombing began.
“It was a nightmare,” she said in an interview this week in Toronto. They were among roughly 240 hostages taken during the attack and transported to Gaza, the Palestinian enclave that was controlled by Hamas before Israel’s subsequent invasion. Ms. Brodutch and the four children were released in November during a pause in the fighting, but according to Israel more than 30 hostages have died in the war and about 100 are still being held captive.
They woke up to the sound of air-raid sirens, and Mr. Brodutch went outside to investigate. Usually, she said, all one sees are Israel’s air defences at work. This time, Mr. Brodutch saw Hamas fighters paragliding into Israeli territory. He yelled that terrorists were coming from the sky.Ms. Brodutch, her husband Avihai Brodutch are living in Toronto until the middle of July, spending time with Mr. Brodutch’s Canadian brother.
First, she said, they were taken to a family home and locked in a room with no running water, scarce electricity and little food. This, she said, was the home that collapsed. “At night I tried to imagine what our life will be without him. I just couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t imagine,” she said.
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