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Father of Freed Gaza Hostage Says Fellow Arabs Should Be Outraged by Hamas
(AFP) The father of Hisham al-Sayed, a Bedouin Muslim returned to Israel after nearly a decade in Gaza captivity, on Sunday urged the Arab world to speak out against abuses by Hamas. Sayed, 37, who was released on Saturday, is schizophrenic, according to his family. He entered Gaza in 2015 and was held hostage there since. "I thought that Hamas members would keep him safe," said Shaaban al-Sayed. But after Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack, "I saw that Bedouins and Arabs were killed, working people who weren't soldiers or fighters." "When we got Hisham back, we were relieved to see him walking on his legs, but as I held him in my arms, I realized I was hugging a body...not a human being. He doesn't talk. He doesn't have a voice. He can't remember anything. It's like he hadn't been with other human beings. This makes us angry."