Julie, the mother of freed hostage Bar Kuperstein, spoke with Army Radio on Thursday about the horrors her son endured during captivity in the Gaza Strip.

She described a harrowing ordeal of torture and abuse, including prolonged starvation and repeated beatings. “He sat across from me and told me everything, and I just cried—realizing how strong he is. He came back a hero.”

“They went through horrific abuse and torture. They were starved in a terrible way — even animals aren’t treated like that.”

She added that Bar told her, “They beat me, but I didn’t feel it—my body was frozen.” She explained that he trained himself to disconnect from the pain.

Bar told her that the captors stayed nearby and at certain hours would flash lights to send messages. Bar understood that if food didn’t arrive at those times, he might not eat at all that day. “He told me, ‘Ima, I got used to living with just a little food.’ When your stomach hurts and there’s no food—those are truly unbearable moments.”

The mother added that every time a Hamas member was killed or a relative’s house was hit, the captors would react violently: “They would come and beat them mercilessly, torturing them. There were really terrible times. I’d rather not go into details.”

She said her son chose to sleep as much as possible as a coping mechanism: “He really slept for hours. That’s what kept him sane.”

Despite the harsh conditions, Julie emphasized her son’s spirit of helping others even in captivity: “Bar was always helping people—he’s extremely handy. He fixed the electricity, the latrine, and a water trench. He even created a place in the tunnel where they could sit alone when things got hard.”

She said that during his time in captivity, Bar decided to donate the 200 shekels he’d left in his wallet at home, as an act of tzedaka to save his life.

Julie also revealed that her family had to hide the fact that Bar had served as a combat soldier in the Nachal Brigade. He told his captors he was an ambulance medic. “He told us it didn’t matter to them whether someone was a soldier or not—they treated everyone horribly.”

She said that during captivity, her son drew closer to religion and requested tzitzis when he returned. “I was shocked. He had emunah, he was traditional, but not like this. He saw the Arabs praying and fasting, and thought that if they do that, then he also wants to be close to the Borei Olam.  He recited Shema Yisrael many times, davened, and said a perek Tehillim he knew by heart. He had a dialogue with the Borei Olam.”

Watch Bar’s moving reunion with his disabled father:

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)