"I don't believe in peace, I don't sorry," the Arabic and Hebrew teacher said. "I understand Hamas don't want it."

'I don't believe in peace now,' released Gaza hostage tells BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2eem7e7v30o

8 hours ago

By Hafsa Khalil, BBC News

'I no longer believe in peace' says 75-year-old Ada Sagi taken hostage by Hamas

An Israeli peace activist who was seized from her home on 7 October and held hostage for 53 days in Gaza has told the BBC how her ordeal destroyed her belief that peace is possible between Palestinians and Israelis.

In her first UK interview since being freed in November, Ada Sagi, 75, also told Emma Barnett on Radio 4's Today programme how she was held in an apartment by paid guards, that Hamas kept her in a hospital before her release - and that she now believes the world hates Jews.

"I don't believe in peace, I don't sorry," the Arabic and Hebrew teacher said. "I understand Hamas don't want it."

Ms Sagi lived for decades in the Nir Oz kibbutz near the Israel-Gaza border, trying to help reconciliation efforts by teaching Israelis Arabic to speak to their neighbours.

In the autumn of 2023, she was planning to come to London to visit her son Noam and celebrate her birthday.

But all that changed when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages into Gaza, Ms Sagi among them.

Ada, who turned 75 while held hostage by those she describes as “Hamas terrorists”, was finally freed 53 days later.

EPA

Ada Sagi was released in November after 53 days in captivity in Gaza