Farhan Qadi, who was rescued after 326 days in Hamas captivity, shared yesterday (Wednesday) how prayers helped him survive the difficult period in the tunnel. “You sit and get up, pray and go back to sleep,” Qadi described the routine that kept him going during his captivity. His family reported that one of the first things he said after his release was that the most important thing to him is the release of the remaining hostages. “There are others suffering like I did — I don’t want to think that someone could help and just sit quietly,” he told his family.
Qadi’s 90-year-old mother recounted a feeling she had in a dream. “She saw in her dreams that he was okay and had been shot in the leg,” his brother Jumaa Qadi said. “She constantly sent us reassuring messages. She told us to stay calm, not talk to anyone, and that God is with us.” Today, Farhan was able to see his mother for the first time since he was abducted. “The first thing he did was kiss her feet and said to her, ‘As far as I’m concerned, I’m ready to die now. That was my dream,'” Jumaa shared.
In an emotional conversation with the President of Israel, Farhan recounted the rescue: “Suddenly, I hear someone speaking Hebrew outside the door — I couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t believe it. I thank you very much. This is thanks to our army; they are doing sacred work, risking their lives. Thank you very much, Mr. President.”
Qadi, a resident of the Bedouin diaspora in the Negev, was kidnapped on October 7 from the area of Kibbutz Magen in the Gaza envelope, where he worked as a guard at a packing house. “Every hostage, whether Arab or Jewish, has a family waiting for them. I hope and pray that this will come to an end. I told Netanyahu too — put an end to this. It’s very difficult for everyone,” he shared in the visitors’ tent set up near his home.
Despite the emotional reunion, Farhan Qadi shared details about his harrowing experiences during captivity. “There were captors with me in the room, but I didn’t talk to them,” he said about the masked terrorists guarding him. “I was alone in the room and didn’t see other captives,” he added. According to reports from Channel 12 News, Qadi described undergoing surgery to remove a bullet from his leg. “The surgery was almost without anesthetics — it was very painful. After about two months, I was transferred to a tunnel where I was alone with the terrorists. I couldn’t tell the difference between day and night.” Regarding reports that Farhan saw a fellow captive die next to him, this is still being investigated by security forces, and no official report has been released yet.
Kan News reported that Qadi said the terrorists fled the tunnel about two weeks ago due to the sound of drilling by IDF engineering equipment. It was also reported that the captors planted explosives in the tunnel to lure the soldiers inside and detonate the underground passage. When the forces reached the tunnel, they demanded that Farhan Qadi strip and identify himself. In response, Qadi stated that he was Israeli, prompting the forces to instruct him on how to exit the booby-trapped tunnel without triggering the explosives.
Family members who met him at Soroka Hospital after he was debriefed by security forces noted that “he lost a lot of weight, mostly ate bread, and not every day. But he’s on his feet and speaking coherently.” They added, “He constantly thought about the family and never stopped believing he would get out of there. We don’t know how he survived, but he did, and that’s the most important thing.”
