David Cunio, a former hostage held by Hamas for more than two years, has broken his silence in a deeply moving account of survival, separation, and psychological torment during his 738-day captivity in Gaza.
Cunio, abducted with his wife Sharon and their twin daughters on October 7, 2023, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, described the horrors they faced at the hands of Hamas terrorists in an interview aired on Israel’s Channel 12.
He recounted the moment the nightmare began: awakened by gunfire and sirens, the family huddled in their safe room as militants set homes ablaze. Fleeing the smoke, Cunio attempted to escape with one of his daughters, Yuli, only to be captured in the yard. The family was separated during the chaos.
For the first days in captivity, Cunio was held with Sharon and Yuli, but had no idea what had happened to their other daughter, Emma. The moment of their reunion days later at a hospital in Khan Yunis was bittersweet: Emma was malnourished, traumatized, and initially didn’t recognize her parents. Only the sound of her mother’s singing seemed to calm her.
“They tried to film us for propaganda,” Cunio said. “But Emma was terrified. She screamed at night from the nightmares. The terrorists would yell at us to silence her. How do you silence a three-year-old in terror?”
On the 49th day, Sharon and the twins were released in a hostage deal. Cunio remained behind—unaware that his own release would not come for another 682 days.
His conditions deteriorated rapidly. Transferred to Hamas’s underground tunnel network, Cunio endured near-starvation, dehydration, and relentless physical strain. He survived on a half pita and a quarter-liter of water a day. At times, hostages were forced to crawl or march for kilometers underground.
“You’re not a person down there,” he recalled. “You live because you must. You survive because there’s no other choice.”
Cunio’s story is a chilling reminder of the human cost of terrorism. It’s also a testament to resilience, a father’s love, and the strength of the human spirit in the face of unthinkable suffering.
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