In a powerful and emotional interview broadcast Wednesday night on Channel 12’s Uvda, Ori Megidish—the first hostage successfully freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza—shared her gripping account of survival, unwavering emunah, and the harrowing experiences she endured during her time in enemy hands.
“I had faith that God was by my side, watching over me and would get me out of there,” Megidish stated, describing how her belief in divine protection never wavered. “I would ask a question, like if I’m supposed to get out of here, let there be a boom. And then there was a boom. There were all sorts of signs.”
In one striking moment, she recalled seeking reassurance through an unusual request: a butterfly. “Suddenly, one of the captors pulled out a toy shaped like a very colorful butterfly. I started smiling, even though I had stitches in my face—I felt He was with me.”
Her most frightening ordeal came during her third Shabbat in captivity, when Israeli airstrikes hit the building where she was being held. “The ceiling collapsed, the house was engulfed in flames. I didn’t even feel that I was injured.” It wasn’t until afterward that she discovered she had suffered a fractured skull. She also described how her captors crudely stitched her facial wounds without any numbing agent. “It was pain you can’t describe,” she said.
Megidish revealed that she had been asleep at the time her rescue operation began. “There’s gunfire outside, and when I realize something is happening, I go behind the fridge and crouch down. I shout in Hebrew, I don’t know why, but it was like I felt, I don’t know, that this was a rescue.”
She initially wasn’t sure whether to trust the soldier who appeared before her, as he didn’t have any visible insignia. “I was conflicted—thinking it could have been another kidnapping, at that level. It could have happened.” But as they drove away from the site, she heard him speaking her native language. “I remember exchanging glances with him, and I saw how excited he was.”
{Matzav.com Israel}