Hostage accounts raise alarm about how long those left in Gaza can survive

The conditions of 24-year-old Ohel’s captivity, as described by two hostages held alongside him and released on Saturday, and the experiences of others held by Hamas who were denied needed medical care and adequate food have sparked alarm in Israel about how much longer remaining survivors can last.

On Monday, Hamas said it would stop releasing hostages as part of a cease-fire deal and accused Israel of violating its terms. Mediators said the Palestinian Islamist militant group has been angered by President Trump’s call to remove Palestinians from Gaza, Israeli leaders’ support for the plan, and a lack of agreed-upon humanitarian aid.

Trump demanded that Hamas release all of the hostages it is holding by noon local time Saturday, saying if they aren’t freed “all bets are off and let hell break out."

“Is there one mother who could accept that her son is hungry for food, shackled with chains for so many days?" Ohel’s mother, Idit Ohel, said in a TV interview on Sunday. “How can a mother sleep at night knowing this?"

Israel and Hamas agreed in January to pause fighting for 42 days, during which 33 Israeli hostages would be released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Under the deal, an additional 17 people—including some known to be dead—are due to be exchanged over the next few weeks.

The two sides were supposed to have begun talks about a second-phase agreement that would lead to the release of all remaining hostages and an end to hostilities in Gaza. Those negotiations were to have started 16 days after the first-phase pact was sealed. Twenty-four days have now passed.

Alon Ohel isn’t expected to be released until the second phase.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday convened the security cabinet to discuss Israel’s starting positions for stage-two negotiations. Several Israeli lawmakers have said they oppose moving on to phase two and one party has threatened to quit the government, potentially risking the survival of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.

The condition of three men released on Saturday—Eli Sharabi, Or Levy and Ohad Ben Ami—who emerged looking gaunt and frail, evoked for some Israeli images of Holocaust survivors. Sharabi and Levy were held together with Ohel.

The men reported they were kept underground for more than a year and were unable to stand or move. They faced severe hunger.

“The images we saw show significant weight loss" with long-term health risks, Hagar Mizrahi, a senior Israeli health ministry official said. “It is very possible that we will see sights that are worse than this."

Some Israeli officials said they were shocked by the men’s state. Gal Hirsch, a senior official in charge of hostage affairs in Netanyahu’s office, said Israel had complained to the mediators in the cease-fire talks about the men’s condition.

But families of hostages said Israeli officials had long known their condition because they had been briefed by intelligence officials. They accused the government of failing to prioritize the release of the hostages.

“If they really are surprised, they’ve been living in a cave for the last 16 months," said Lee Siegel, brother of recently released hostage Keith Siegel. Siegel said his brother was held alone, underground for the final two months of his captivity.

“He would have to ask permission to stand up. He’d have to ask permission to speak out loud," Siegel said. Siegel said that his brother did have access to some medicine and that he had access to better food in his last two weeks in Gaza as humanitarian aid increased in the area he was held in.

Families of the three hostages released on Saturday said that nothing had prepared them for the sight of their relatives. They said their initial joy was quickly replaced by alarm.

“I hugged him, but it wasn’t the same Or who left the house on Oct. 7, 2023," Michael Levy, brother of released hostage Or Levy said in a statement on Sunday.

“Or came back to us in poor physical condition," he said. “For 16 months he was barefoot, hungry, and in constant fear that every day would be his last."

Many families of hostages who aren’t on the so-called humanitarian list, which includes women, children, the elderly and wounded, say they are afraid they won’t see their loved ones again.

“There is mainly fear and frustration and a feeling of being helpless that accompanies us all the time," said Maccabit Mayer, the aunt of Gali and Ziv Berman, 27-year-old twins who were kidnapped from their homes in kibbutz Kfar Aza.

Mayer said that she keeps replaying in her head the twins’ last recorded messages sent to their family before they were taken. She also said that each time she watches a release of hostages from Gaza she is filled with joy for other families but also experiences a sense of jealousy.

Mayer has learned from released hostages that Gali and Ziv were seen alive, she told the Journal on Tuesday.

On Monday, Ohel’s family celebrated his birthday at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, where thousands of Israelis gathered. His mother said she was certain he would survive.

“Alon’s great grandfather was in Auschwitz in the Holocaust and he came out 30 kilos and he survived and he came to Israel and made a beautiful family," she said. “He has the strength because it’s in his genes to know how to survive something like that."

Write to Anat Peled at anat.peled@wsj.com