Former Israeli captive says army air strikes in Gaza put her in danger

Naama Levy, one of five Israeli female soldiers freed during the January ceasefire, told a crowd in Tel Aviv that Israeli air strikes terrified her far more than anything else during her captivity in Gaza.

“They come by surprise,” she said, describing the strikes. “First you hear a whistle, pray it doesn’t fall on you, and then — the booms, a noise loud enough to paralyse you, the earth shakes,” she said in comments carried by the Times of Israel.

Levy recalled how one air raid nearly killed her. “I was convinced every single time that this was my end, and it’s also what put me in the most danger: one of the bombardments collapsed part of the house I was in,” she said. “The wall I was leaning on didn’t collapse, and that’s what saved me.”

Levy drew attention to the grim parallel facing those still held in Gaza. She went days without food or water. “One day, I had nothing left, not even water,” she said.

“Fortunately, it started raining. My captors put a pot outside the house where I was held, and the rain filled it. I drank that rain water, which was enough for a pot of rice. That’s what kept me going.”