Former Israeli hostage says most Hamas terrorists were 'drugged or completely inhumane' during Oct 7 attack

Former hostage Luis Har was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, from his home in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, a rural Israeli community close to the Gaza border. Like many other former hostages, Har revealed that most Hamas terrorists were inhumane and frequently under the influence of drugs. 

“There were some moments of humanity, but not the majority. Most of them were either drugged or completely inhumane,” Har recalled in a recent interview with Israeli news outlet Maariv. He expressed concerns about the remaining Israeli hostages held by the terrorist organizations Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza. 

“The hostages today are suffering from prolonged hunger,” Har assessed. 

“Hamas takes all the aid,” he continued. He urged Israeli and international leaders to do everything in their power to secure the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza. 

“I was there; I know what delaying the deals means. Every day increases fear, danger, and suffering. We must not wait, and we must not delay because every passing day increases the concern that, in the end, there will be no one left to bring back,” Har warned. 

He recalled the traumatic moment when Hamas terrorists captured him and four other Israelis on that October day.

“The terrorists burst into our safe room; there were five of us there. We started shouting, 'Don't shoot! Don't shoot!' They yelled in Arabic and dragged us out violently. Those with hair were pulled by their hair; the others, like me, who are bald, were pulled by their clothes and pushed. On the way out, I looked around and saw the entire house filled with terrorists shouting, banging on the furniture with their weapons, shooting, and smashing glass. The living room, kitchen, and rooms were packed with them,” he said. 

In June 2024, Israeli special forces rescued Har and three other Israeli hostages in a daring rescue operation in central Gaza. 

Har described how even Palestinian women and teenagers were participating in the carnage.

“I saw other homes that had also been broken into. All the doors were open, and the yards were empty and silent. It seemed like they had already taken all the residents of the kibbutz captive. Someone had stolen a bicycle and tied a child’s small tractor to it. There were many women and teenagers looting houses, running in all directions, and trying to enter homes along with the terrorists. It looked like a surreal movie,” he said, describing the shock as they were forced into waiting cars.

“A white Toyota screeched to a halt and quickly loaded us in amidst shouts and urgency,” Har said.

“Mia [Leimberg, a fellow captive] was in shock, utterly terrified. She was holding the dog and not speaking. But we spoke in Spanish among ourselves. We said, 'Let’s pretend we don’t understand Hebrew or Arabic to minimize contact with the terrorists.'”

The hostages were made to sit on top of the weapons that filled the car – mortars, RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) – and on top of them stood five terrorists screaming 'Allahu Akbar’ and shooting up in the air.

“They trampled us as if we were rags,” Har said, describing how Palestinian teenagers approaching the car toward Khan Younis clearly wanted to lynch them. 

During the drive through Gaza, the hostages survived by not resisting, Har explained:

“We said the most important thing was not to resist, to cooperate, and to respond in a way that wouldn’t anger them. That’s how we kept ourselves safe. Every time a door opened, we told ourselves, 'This is it; we’ve reached the final stop.' At some point, the terrorists asked, 'Are you Jews?' and we immediately said, 'No, no, we’re Argentinians – Messi, football, Messi.'”

Har noted that humor kept them sane during the barbarity they had to endure from their Palestinian captors, “who constantly threatened and shouted.”

“At some point, we started laughing whenever they said, 'shwaya shwaya' (slowly, slowly). I’d say to the man of the house, 'Come on, shwaya shwaya, we’ve already been here for weeks.' Humor saved us.”