PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Locals with ties to hostages who have been released from Gaza are speaking about what their families are going through now that a week-long humanitarian pause in fighting has ended.
“I've been feeling like the turn of events is somewhat unbelievable,” said Elad Shdaimah of Ardmore, who heard his grandmother Dietza Heiman’s voice for the first time in more than two months. She was released Tuesday from captivity in Gaza.
“I spoke with her for about a minute and a half or something over FaceTime recently. She's been in and out of the hospital, getting checked up and everything, so we haven't had a lot of time.”
His dad Amichai says she hasn’t told them much yet about her time in captivity, but they know she was held above ground without much contact with anyone else.
“But we know she wasn't in the tunnels,” he said. “She was kept by herself somewhere,” he said. “A very bad sanitation condition. She did not get her medication for 50-some days. She's 84 years old. She has her own medical needs.”
His wife Corey says Heiman is adjusting to news about the enormity of the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel — including the fact that the kibbutz she helped found was destroyed. “I keep wanting to say she came home,” she said. “She came to Israel but she can't actually go back to her home.”
Instead, they say, Heiman redirects their conversations away from her. “She wants to know where all the kids are,” said Corey, “when we’re gonna see them home for the holidays.”
In nearby Wynnewood, Danielle Gutman relayed the concerns of her sister-in-law, whose cousin’s 12-year-old son, Eitan Yahalomi, was also released.
“She's very relieved that Eitan is home, but she's also very worried about how he will get through this and overcome this — and will he overcome it? Will he go back to normal?”
Eitan’s father Ohad is still held captive in Gaza.
“My sister-in-law, you know, they were devastated and then half of their heart was returned,” she said.
Gutman says knowing there are still hostages there is debilitating.
“I just sit there on the couch. I'm unable to do stuff, you know?”
Gutman, who is pursuing her doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania, says it’s been difficult keeping tabs on family news while simultaneously dealing with evidence of antisemitism, including graffiti.