A 12-year-old French-Israeli boy freed by Hamas experienced “horrors” in captivity, his aunt has said, including being struck by Palestinian civilians and threatened with weapons, AFP reports.

Eitan Yahalomi “lived through horrors out there,” Deborah Cohen told news channel BFM TV.

“When he arrived in Gaza, civilians hit him… he’s a 12-year-old child,” she added, saying she had got the details from the boy’s mother.

While in captivity, “Hamas forced (Eitan) to watch” video of the bloody October 7 attacks in which 1,200 mostly Israeli civilians were killed, Cohen said.

“Every time a child cried, they would threaten him with a weapon to shut him up,” she added.

“I wanted to believe that Eitan would be well treated. Apparently not. Those people are monsters,” Cohen said.

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