Gilad Shalit speaks: I played strange games in captivity

Gilad Shalit Spent more than five years in Hamas cellars, and did not see a single soul except his guards. "I would draw the map of the country, the Mizpe (Mizpe Hila), the houses, to remember, to imagine the places," he says in his first interview after his release. The full film will soon be broadcast on Channel 10.

"During the day I would play all kinds of games, chess, dominoes, and I played with myself all kinds of things, strange games with myself," says Gilad about his life. "I made a ball out of socks or a shirt and I would throw it around. I was making up all kinds of things. I was watching sporting events and writing things from time to time," he explains how he kept himself busy.

"I'd hide it sometimes, some of them did not like me writing," he said of the relationship between himself and his captors. "Some thought I was collecting information."

Gilad told about his feelings on the day he was taken out to freedom and taken to the Rafah crossing, where he transferred to the Egyptians. "Suddenly I see before me dozens of people. During the trip I felt a lot of pressure. I didn’t know if something would happen, if they would try to harm us, if something would go wrong at the last minute, and as soon as I got out and went into to Egypt I felt a huge sense of relief. Suddenly I see before me dozens, hundreds of people. After seeing only a few people all these years suddenly to see this flurry around you... "

A few minutes before returning to Israel, as part of its deal with Hamas, Gilad was forced to be interviewed on Egyptian TV."The interviewer did not hug me, she shook my hand. This is the first woman I saw after five and a half years now. Especially her?" He was joking.

"The first night I slept well," he notes. "I went to bed at nine - nine and a half but I got up at 2 am. Started moving around the house. Looked out of the windows, I saw guards walking around the yard."

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!