(NewsNation) — No one has felt the pain of having a loved one held captive by Hamas or the joy of seeing a family member released quite like Ofir Metzger.
On Oct. 7, Hamas invaded the Nir Oz kibbutz in southern Israel where Metzger’s sister and grandparents were staying. Her sister managed to escape, and her grandmother was one of the hostages Hamas released, but her 80-year-old grandfather, Yoram Metzger, is still in captivity.
“It’s hard to stay strong in this situation when you can’t sleep, when you just think about him and about what he’s dealing with,” Ofir told NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas.
Metzger said her grandparents were kidnapped separately but managed to find each other while in captivity. Hamas released her grandmother, 78-year-old Tamar Metzger, last month.
Ofir Metzger says she is “relieved she (Tamar) survived and in a physical condition she can recover from.” She noticed her grandmother now has scars on her legs and knees and has lost a significant amount of weight.
“She told us actually everything, but there are parts that I can’t tell because my grandpa is still there, and we’re afraid that could make harm to him in some ways,” Ofir Metzger said.
According to Metzger, her grandmother ate mainly rice while in captivity and didn’t suffer much physical abuse.
“They luckily didn’t suffer, the people she was with, didn’t suffer from physical abuse. It’s like Russian roulette. It depends on where you are. Some hostages did suffer. Some hostages did not,” Ofir Metzger said.
As Ofir Metzger tries to process what her family has endured, worry for her grandfather consumes her mind.
“It affects us,” she said.
Ofir Metzger told NewsNation her grandfather has diabetes and that he’s just one of the older people with medical conditions taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
“Who’s taking care of them,” Ofir Metzger asked in frustration. “The Red Cross is not present, is not there, is not visiting them, nothing.”
She added: “I just hope they (Hamas) don’t move them around or put them in any new danger that we don’t know. This is already a dangerous situation because they are old. They are not as strong as they were 10 weeks ago.”
According to reports, almost a quarter of Kibbutz Nir Oz’s residents were either kidnapped or killed during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. Israel vows to keep fighting in Gaza until Hamas is eliminated, despite mounting international pressure for a cease-fire and calls to protect civilians.
