Yahalomi, 13, was released in a November 2023 prisoner swap.
"When I came into Gaza, I saw a lot of people," Yahalomi shared with the "Children of October 7" project. "Civilians hit me, I started hearing gunshots and shouts in Arabic. I was a little scared."
He added, "The terrorists showed me video clips where they killed people, they were happy. I didn't look to the side because they didn't allow me, but I also saw things in the real world. I think about it all the time."
Yahalomi, whose father is still held in Gaza, said, "I ate a pita a day, and a cucumber. Now I don't sleep a lot, it's as if I went through the worst possible, and that's it."
When asked if he was aware of what was happening in Israel, he said, "Yes, they showed me videos of them killing people. They were happy."
When asked if he tried not to watch the footage the terrorists showed him, he responded, "No, at any rate he wouldn't have allowed me. I saw worse things. I think about it all the time." Israel National News - Arutz Sheva
Yahalomi's father, Ohad, is still held captive in Gaza. Ohad's sister Ayala told Israel National News - Arutz Sheva, "Ohad lived in Nir Oz with his wife and three children that morning - not anything unusual. Unfortunately they woke up to the sound of sirens and missiles falling - but they quickly understood that something else was happening."
"Slowly, slowly, they began to hear voices in Arabic outside, 'Itbah al Yahud' (kill the Jew -ed.), and 'Allahu akhbar,' (G-d is great; a phrase commonly said prior to carrying out terror attacks - ed.), and they quickly understood that there were terrorists around their home. Afterwards the scale of it was understood, and that hundreds of terrorists were inside Nir Oz."
"Ohad at some point - because the door of the bomb shelter did not close - he chose to protect his family from outside the bomb shelter. He closed the door on them with the intention of protecting them. At some point, the terrorists just broke into Ohad's home, fired at him, injured his limbs, his hand and thigh, and the moment they had him down and he sat on the floor they opened the door of the bomb shelter, where his wife Batsheva and three children were."
Batsheva and her daughters managed to escape captivity.
