'We were very afraid': Former hostage speaks about surviving Hamas captivity in Gaza

A former hostage, who was rescued by the Israeli military in February, is describing how he survived 129 days in captivity in Gaza.

On Oct. 7, Argentinian-Israeli Luis Har was taken hostage by the Palestinian militant group Hamas from a kibbutz near the Gaza border, along with his partner Clara Marman, Clara's brother Fernando Marman, Clara's sister Gabriela Leimberg and Gabriela's daughter, 17-year-old Mia Leimberg.

«They take us brutally, we were very afraid [for] our lives,» he said in an interview with, describing how armed men broke into the house. «They take us with the car to Gaza.»

Har told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton that, while in captivity, they tried to keep quiet and avoid anything that would make the guards nervous, because they knew Hamas wasn't afraid to shoot. They couldn't leave the room they were in and had to ask permission to go to the bathroom.

«It's very difficult to be in this situation… The possibility if you talk no good or say something, maybe they shoot you,» he said. «We were very afraid.»

Israel says 253 people were taken hostage by Hamas and other militant groups as part of the attack on Oct. 7. Since then, over 100 hostages have been released, most of them as part of a temporary ceasefire deal in November.

All of the women in Har's family were released as part of that deal, including 17-year-old Mia Leimberg and her dog Bella.

«It was difficult. I held [Bella] all the way there. It was an extra four kilos. And I'm just lucky enough that I managed to keep her through that whole situation and bring her back,» Leimberg told Reuters in December.

Experience changed him, ex-hostage says

Months later, on Feb. 12, Har and Fernando Marman were finally rescued in an overnight raid by