A BRAVE Israeli hostage snatched by Hamas on October 7 has revealed the agony she endured – being slapped, beaten and paraded through Gaza like a trophy.
Moran Yanai was ruthlessly kidnapped from the Nova music festival during the massacre before being forced to spend 54 days in captivity where she was accused of being a secret Israeli soldier.
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Moran told The Sun she was constantly screamed at during her time as a hostage and abused as her evil captors interrogated her daily.
The then 40-year-old jewellery designer recalled the first day being one of the most terrifying as she was dragged inside a hospital in Gaza.
She had broken her leg trying to escape the terrorists during the fateful festival and needed serious help.
Up to 40 men were waiting for Moran inside the cramped hospital room, she says.
They had her shoes taken away, her jewellery stolen and her pockets emptied as she was forced to lay on a steel bed.
At one point the terrorists even accused one of her earrings of containing a microchip which was being tracked by IDF forces.
This caused them to threaten to cut off her ear, she said.
Moran recalls begging a doctor to help her only for a Hamas thug to scream at her to “shut up”.
She added: “I felt like I was in a horror movie.”
The brave former hostage was speaking to documentarian Alan Duncan as tense ceasefire negotiations continue between Hamas and Israel
And she spoke as part of her work with the Hostage and Missing Families Forum – also known as Bring Them Home – a dedicated group working to return all kidnapped Israelis and others taken on October 7.
Moran was interrogated over and over again during her 54 days trapped, with the men obsessively probing over their belief she was a soldier.
She was wearing green cargo trousers and army-style boots when she went to the festival.
Moran was even baselessly accused of ripping off parts of what the thugs were convinced was an army uniform such as a t-shirt before she was caught.
Some of the deranged terrorists even claimed Moran was a high level member of the Israeli army meaning she was heavily guarded at all times.
Moran said: “When they brought me into the first house I was covered in a sheet and when they took the sheet off there was an investigator in front of my face and more men in the room.
“At that point I started to cry.
“What can I do in a room with eight men standing, looking at me?”
My journey and my experience in Gaza was as a soldier and I was investigated and they were suspicious of me all the time.They treated me worse than the others
Moran Yanai
Moran says she was treated as a soldier the whole time she was kept captive.
This is despite her not being apart of any military operations for over 21 years in Israel.
Moran added: “My journey and my experience in Gaza was as a soldier and I was investigated and they were suspicious of me all the time.
“They treated me worse than the others.”
Around 1,200 civilians were brutally massacred back in October 2023 by Hamas thugs as 251 were taken hostage from the music festival, inside their homes or as they ran away to safety.
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The October 7 massacre
ON October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists stormed the border between Gaza and Israel, slaughtering over 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping hundreds more.
Moran says at all times she was constantly in fear of being killed by her captors.
Inside the hospital she remembers thinking: “They’re putting a cast on my leg, they’re not killing me now so I still have time to gather information and try to understand whats the situation if there is any possibility that I can save myself.”
“That is the only thing I was thinking off at that point. Don’t try to resist as they will pick you up or worse,” she continued.
“I had nothing to do but to give in to that situation and have faith in my heart because I don’t have the right to do anything anymore.
The jewellery designer was then forced to accept being dragged after she broke her leg trying to escape a short time earlier.
“From that point on they dragged me so violently. And then they picked me up and threw me from one to another,” she continued.
“I hit my head so many times and from that point on every case is the worst case scenario.”
Retelling the terrorists next moves, Moran says she was bundled into a car with nine gunmen and paraded through the decimated streets of Gaza.
For Moran the journey from the festival into Gaza was the worst few moments of her terrifying 54-day ordeal.
She explained: “I saw a picture I will never forget, I saw one young boy standing in the middle of the road celebrating.
“Then I saw all of the crowd, all of the people, different men and this was the most terrifying thing out of all of this event.
“To see how many people were celebrating evil and me being brought as a trophy into the middle of the crowd.”
The car carrying Moran was then stopped in the middle of the crowd as Hamas members flung open the doors.
Men grabbed at her leg and tried to pull her from the vehicle in the horrifying scenes in Gaza.
She survived by digging her nails into the leg of one of the terrorists she was being forced to lay on top of – making him scream in agony before slamming the door shut to get Moran to let go.
“You don’t have the right to walk, speak, breathe, cry, thinking – any reaction drags consequences from their side.”
Moran was moved around seven different homes with her being forced to deal with a new thug each time.
They ranged from abandoned apartment blocks to modern family homes.
The horrors of October 7
Moran’s family said she went to the Nova festival in October 2023 to “fulfil her dream and sell jewellery” before Hamas terrorists turned her excitement “into a journey of agony”.
Moran managed to escape twice from the hands of Hamas when they first para-glided into the desert to attack as she pretended to be an Arab woman.
But after being shot at for hours by armed terrorists, hiding up in trees and seeing civilians being gunned down Moran was finally captured.
Harrowing footage caught the moment the terrified jewellery saleswoman was snatched by members of the terror group.
She can be seen trembling with fear and sat in a ditch trying to hide in a potato field near to the festival.
They dragged me so violently. And then they picked me up and threw me from one to another
Moran Yanai
After looking up at her vile captors Moran clasps her hands together before praying.
She recalls the chilling moment the group of heavily armed men saw her.
Moran said: “I tried to be really quiet but then you hear ‘coo coo’ like when you surprise a child.
“So we looked up and we saw a bunch of terrorists standing on top of the mountain screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ and ‘we found them’ as they ran towards us.”
She was miraculously able to escape from the men by running for her life after handing one of them her necklace in a bid to be released.
Moran took shelter in a tree but was quickly followed by more members of the terror squad.
“When they came to the tree they were not talking anymore, it was completely silent, it was completely aggressive,” she said.
“They pulled me from the tree and they dragged me and started to cover my face.
Moran revealed she tried to talk to them in a last grasp attempt only to be slapped across the face.
Moran was released during the first ceasefire in November but her loved ones had an agonising wait to see if she would be freed.
The trade deal – which saw the hostages released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners – started on the November 22 with Moran only being set free a week later.
The Israel-Hamas war
By Ellie Doughty, Foreign News Reporter
IN the 10 months since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023, waves of conflict have broken out across the Middle East.
Some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed and 250 taken hostage in the hideous ambush.
115 hostages are believed to still be in Gaza, including 41 whose deaths have been confirmed by the Israeli authorities.
Israel has repeatedly vowed to wipe out every member of Hamas despite civilian collateral in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas claims some 40,000 have died in Gaza – and the IDF say they have killed 15,000 terrorists since October 7.
Most of the Strip has also been destroyed by the fighting and airstrikes, reportedly displacing some two million people from their homes.
Some Israelis have pushed against Netanyahu’s regime for a deal that will see the 115 hostages who remain in Gaza alive returned home with protests in Tel Aviv.
Israel is also facing a fresh wave of conflict with Iran and its various other puppet proxies in the region, namely Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
Civilians across the region are at risk from the fighting, particularly in Gaza and Lebanon.
Moran says she dropped 12 per cent of her body weight during her time as a hostage.
She also lost her hair and was left covered in scars.
Now back safely in Israel, Moran has called her life since a roller coaster as she battles to return to normality.
Moran was released during the first ceasefire in November but her loved ones had an agonising wait to see if she would be freed.
The trade deal – which saw the hostages released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners – started on the November 22 with Moran only being set free a week later.
Moran says she dropped 12 per cent of her body weight during her time as a hostage.
She also lost her hair and was left covered in scars.
Now back safely in Israel, Moran has called her life since a roller coaster as she battles to return to normality.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum supports the families of those kidnapped on October 7.
They have warned “time is running out” for those still captive in Gaza and are calling for help to “bring them home now”.The volunteer organisation continues to call for support and donations – with more information that can be found here.
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The jewellery designer was then forced to accept being dragged after she broke her leg trying to escape a short time earlier.
“From that point on they dragged me so violently. And then they picked me up and threw me from one to another,” she continued.
“I hit my head so many times and from that point on every case is the worst case scenario.”
Retelling the terrorists next moves, Moran says she was bundled into a car with nine gunmen and paraded through the decimated streets of Gaza.
For Moran the journey from the festival into Gaza was the worst few moments of her terrifying 54-day ordeal.
She explained: “I saw a picture I will never forget, I saw one young boy standing in the middle of the road celebrating.
“Then I saw all of the crowd, all of the people, different men and this was the most terrifying thing out of all of this event.
“To see how many people were celebrating evil and me being brought as a trophy into the middle of the crowd.”
The car carrying Moran was then stopped in the middle of the crowd as Hamas members flung open the doors.
Men grabbed at her leg and tried to pull her from the vehicle in the horrifying scenes in Gaza.
She survived by digging her nails into the leg of one of the terrorists she was being forced to lay on top of – making him scream in agony before slamming the door shut to get Moran to let go.
I felt like I was in a horror movie
Moran Yanai
Moran was released during the first ceasefire in November but her loved ones had an agonising wait to see if she would be freed.
The trade deal – which saw the hostages released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners – started on the November 22 with Moran only being set free a week later.
Moran says she dropped 12 per cent of her body weight during her time as a hostage.
She also lost her hair and was left covered in scars.
Now back safely in Israel, Moran has called her life since a roller coaster as she battles to return to normality.
Hamas is said to be still holding around 109 hostages in underground tunnels in the war-torn Gaza strip.
Israeli authorities believe a third of them have been killed already.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum supports the families of those kidnapped on October 7.
They have warned “time is running out” for those still captive in Gaza and are calling for help to “bring them home now”.
The volunteer organisation continues to call for support and donations – with more information that can be found here.
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