Freed after a decade, Bedouin hostage’s father denounces Hamas brutality
The father of an Israeli Bedouin freed by Hamas after more than a decade of captivity called on the Arab world to speak out against the terror group’s abuses on Sunday night.
Israeli Bedouin Hisham al-Sayed reunites with his family in Tel Avivi’s Ichilov Hospital on Feb. 22, 2025. Sayed, who was diagnosed with mental disorders wandered into Gaza on April 20, 2015. Photo by IDF Spokesperson/TPS-IL
“We want the Arab world, and particularly Arab society in Israel, to voice their opinion: What do they think about the fact that innocent people were kidnapped and murdered,” said Sha’ban al-Sayed. He was speaking to reporters at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital, where his son, Hisham, is recuperating.
Hisham, now 37, was one of two hostages held alive in the Gaza Strip for over a decade. The other, Avera Mengistu, who entered the enclave in 2014, was also released on Saturday. Hisham was diagnosed with acute psychotic disorder and schizophrenia and suffered from auditory hallucinations. A resident of the Bedouin village of Hura, Sayed entered Gaza through the Erez Crossing on April 20, 2015.
“At the start of his captivity, when there were four hostages in Gaza, I thought that Hamas members would keep him safe, because it was in their interest” to exchange him for Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails, said Sha’ban al-Sayed.
He said those beliefs changed after Hamas’s October 7 attack.
“I saw that Bedouins and Arabs were killed, working people who weren’t soldiers or fighters,” said Sayed.
Other Israeli Bedouins taken hostage included Youssef Ziyadne, and three of his children, Hamza, Bilal, and Aisha.
Bilal, 18, and Aisha, 17, were released during a temporary ceasefire in November 2023. Israeli soldiers recovered the bodies of Youssef and Hamza from southern Gaza in January 2025.
Also kidnapped was Farhan al-Qadi, who Israeli forces rescued in August 2024.
“The Arab world doesn’t react, doesn’t give any response to that, doesn’t take any stance,” al-Sayed said.
He denounced Hamas for mistreating and exploiting his son saying the terror group violated Islamic law. He added that Hisham was mentally broken by his decade in captivity.
“When we got Hisham back, we were relieved to see him walking on his legs,” Sha’ban said. “But as I held him in my arms, I realized I was hugging a body… not a human being.”
“He doesn’t talk. He doesn’t have a voice. He can’t remember anything. It’s like he hadn’t been with other human beings” during his years in captivity,” he said. “This makes us angry.”
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 64 remaining hostages, 36 are believed to be dead.
