Hamas terrorists have been accused of branding two teenage brothers with a motorcycle exhaust to prevent them from escaping.
Yagil, who turned 13 while in captivity, and his older sibling Or Yaakov, 16, were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz by armed terrorists on October 7 and returned to Gaza along with more than 200 other hostages.
The young brothers survived more than 50 days in captivity before being released on November 27 as part of a temporary ceasefire that the White House is “trying to extend by the hour.”
Yagil and Or Yakoov's uncle Yaniv Yaakov has now revealed the horrors the child hostages in Gaza were subjected to.
'They told us stories about what they experienced in Gaza. The stories are terrible,” Yaniv told a meeting in North Macedonia with Foreign Minister Eli Cohen. The times of Israel reports.
“Every child that was taken by Hamas was taken on a motorcycle and they took every child, took his leg and put it on the exhaust of that motorcycle, so that they have a burn, so that they will be marked if they flee, if they escape. So [Hamas] can find them.'
Yagil, who turned 13 while in captivity, and his older sibling Or Yaakov, 16, were branded by Hamas with a “motorcycle exhaust,” their uncle said.
The brothers were released by masked Hamas terrorists on November 27 during a temporary ceasefire
Yagil Yaakov, 13, is pictured returning to Israel in an IAF helicopter on Monday after spending more than 50 days as a hostage
He added: “They've been drugged, they've been treated so badly, but at least they're with us.”
The boys were asleep and alone at home when terrorists launched their barbaric attack on their village.
They locked themselves in a safe room and called their mother, Renana Gome, who survived an attack on another kibbutz where she was staying with her daughter.
The boys' mother previously said they were “terrified” and had to whisper to her over the phone when she heard voices speaking in Arabic in the background.
Yagil's older brother desperately tried to keep the door closed as the terrorists forced their way inside.
Tragically, the last thing the mother heard her youngest son say was, “Don't take me, I'm too young,” before the phone went dead.
Yagil and Or Yakoov were captured, along with their father Yair Yaakov and his partner Meirav Tal, both of whom are believed to still be in captivity.
The brothers were among 11 Israeli hostages released Monday. The group also included mother Sharon Aloni Cunio and her three-year-old twin daughters Ema and Yuly.
Another mother and seven children were released on the fourth day of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The boys were asleep and alone at home when terrorists launched their barbaric attack on their village. In the photo: Yagil (R) and Or Yaakov (L)
Negotiators are working to extend the lull in fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, while a senior Israeli official reiterated plans to resume the war unless the terrorist group agreed to release more hostages.
After two last-minute extensions, the enemies marked the seventh day of a Qatari-brokered ceasefire on Thursday with the exchange of eight hostages and 30 Palestinian prisoners, as well as the injection of more humanitarian aid into the shattered Gaza Strip.
Egyptian and Qatari mediators, who succeeded in reaching the previous agreements, were working to negotiate a new two-day truce, Egypt's official state media agency said.
Mark Regev, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel is open to continuing the ceasefire if Hamas commits to releasing further hostages.
Israel had previously set the release of 10 hostages per day as the minimum it would accept to halt its attack.
Mia Schem (pictured, center) was one of two women released by Hamas last night after the ceasefire was extended, minutes before a timeout was due to occur.
The hostages released last night, pictured from top left to bottom right: Bilal and Aisha Ziyadne, 18 and 17, Ilana Gritzewsky, 30, Nili Margalit, 40, Shani Goren, 29, Amit Soussana, 40, Sapir Cohen, 29, and Mia Schema, 21
'We are ready for all possibilities. Without that, we will go back to the fight,” he said on CNN.
Before the previous ceasefire was due to expire early on Thursday, Hamas and its ally, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, warned their fighters of a resumption of hostilities.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which rules Gaza, in response to the terrorist group's October 7 rampage, when Israel says gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages.
Israel retaliated with heavy bombing and a ground invasion. Palestinian health authorities considered reliable by the United Nations say more than 15,000 Gazans have been killed.
When the ceasefire first came into effect a week ago, Israel was preparing to shift the focus of its operation to southern Gaza after its brutal seven-week assault on the north.