The weekend's stormy weather did not deter a demonstration held at "Hostages Square" in Tel Aviv by the families of Israelis who were abducted or have been missing since Oct. 7.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
The gathered crowd heard the emotional testimony of one family members of those who are being held in Gaza, as well as one former hostage, Sharon Aloni Cunio. Sharon was released after 55 days in captivity, along with her 3-year-old twins Yuly and Ema, while her husband and brother-in-law are still being held in Gaza.
"On the way to captivity, we saw things that still haunt me at night and in the middle of the day. Sights that are burned into my memory," Sharon told the crowd. She says her young daughters are still unable to express what they went through, and will likely reveal the effects of the trauma as they grow older.
Also on Saturday, two former hostages released video testimonies of their experiences. Sapir Cohen, 29, who along with Sharon was part of the last group of Hamas hostages to be released during the week-long truce in November. For 55 days, she sat in captivity in Gaza. She was kidnapped alongside her partner Sasha, who remains trapped in the Strip.
On Saturday night, she put out a public message about her ordeal, addressing her partner in particular.
"I'm terrified by what he's going through over there," she says in the video, "Because all the strong men, they're the weak ones there. They're the ones who suffer the most agony."
She holds up her hands, showing off her nails with the letters of Sasha's name painted across 3 of her fingers. Sapir fears that with every day that passes, more hostages could be dying as a result of the dire conditions of captivity. "They simply can't keep living like this," she pleads.
Moran Stella Yanai, 40, was also released as part of the hostage deal, and revealed details of her traumatic ordeal.
"I was a prize," she began. "They brought people from the outside to see me, so they could see what they managed to catch," Moran shared.
Despite the humiliation she endured, Moran says she was determined to win over her captors in order to improve her conditions, revealing that she managed to get her hands on a pack of cards. "I had one goal. I will make them like me, so I can get food, so I can get water."
Moran recounted one particular example of how she was degraded, saying that when she said she was hungry, her kidnapper taunted her and forced her to beg for food. She says that another of her captors demanded eye contact. "When he was angry at me, he wanted me to look at him closely all the time, so I remember his face really really really well."
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
"'Really look into my eyes'," she says he demanded. "'Look. Shut your mouth and go to sleep.' And then you go to sleep and have nightmares about him."
Throughout her 54 days in captivity, Moran says that every morning she would wake up and be grateful she was still alive, and no matter what she went through over the course of the day, she would repeat her thank you every night before going to sleep. "That's the only thing that kept me going," she recounted through tears.
