Former hostages Gali and Ziv Berman detailed the morning of the October 7 massacre, their capture by Hamas from Kfar Aza, and over two years in Hamas captivity to N12 on Saturday.
Gali had received a video call on the morning of October 7 from fellow former hostage and long-time friend Emily Damari, who asked him to come to her house “because she was scared.”
Gali left his saferoom armed with only a kitchen knife to join Damari. After sending his mother a quick photo with Damari, the pair were kidnapped.
“They [Hamas] shot the [Emily’s] dog, shot Emily, and told us: 'Come on, get up!’” Gali recalled to N12.
Not long after his brother’s abduction, terrorists set fire to Ziv’s home, forcing him to flee from his saferoom and into the hands of his kidnappers.
In addition to starvation and abuse, the brothers were held by Hamas in two separate locations. For the first six months of captivity, neither one knew the fate of the other, N12 noted.
After about six months, the terrorists moved Gali to a new location, set up a camera, and outfitted him with a microphone. Minutes later, Ziv was brought in, and the two “fell into each other's arms in a hug that lasted almost ten minutes.” The two were held together for two days before being separated again.
Hamas terrorists reportedly told the two that they “cannot be together,” so that “if something happens to you two, your mother won't have to cry twice.”
Ziv recounted to N12 a moment he thought he might not get out alive, realizing that the IDF was operating above the tunnel in which he and former hostage Omri Miran were being held.
“I don't know if it's hyperventilation or adrenaline, but my legs were shaking. "Omri and I had already started to say goodbye," N12 quoted Ziv as saying, describing how the terrorists had started arming themselves. “You think this is it - you're done for. That's it, I'm done. I heard about the six in Rafah, that's it, now they're going to shoot me.”
N12 also shared the “momento” Gali had brought home with him: a list of likes and dislikes from captivity, memories, and things to do once freed that he written, hidden in his clothes, and smuggled out upon being released.
A mother's fight for her sons
Talia Berman, the twins' mother, described to N12 her own struggle during the two years until Gali and Ziv’s release, and how she avoided the media, leaving public fight for the twins to her sister, Maccabit.
Talia and Doron, the twins' father, were told on the 11th day that Israel had received intelligence of the twins being alive, but it was only on the 50th day that two released hostages gave eyewitness accounts that they had seen Gali and Ziv alive.
“It was the hardest day of his [Doron’s] life,” N12 quoted Talia as saying, describing how the news had weighed heavily on Doron, who refused to eat, drink, and receive medication for his Parkinson’s, which led to him being hospitalized.
According to N12, when the twins were finally allowed to leave the hospital after their release, Doron simply “looked at them [Gali and Ziv], looking from side to side with his beautiful green eyes, as if he couldn't believe it."
"I still pinch them and myself that it's true," Maccabit was quoted as saying. "I waited for them to be in Tali's hands, and that's it - for me, the mission was accomplished.”
According to the twins, Ziv is “in charge of humor,” while Gali “does all the work.”
“We had a bad two years, enough is enough,” N12 quoted Ziv as saying, with Gali adding that “there's no point in dwelling on the bad times anymore.”
Danielle Greyman-Kennard contributed to this report.