Israeli Teen Describes Her Time in Captivity with Her Dog in Gaza Under Hamas

Mia Leimberg emerged from an almost two-month ordeal in Gaza with her Shih Tzu, Bella, in her arms. This was one of the remarkable moments during the week-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that concluded last Friday.

“While we were there, we had to feed her our leftovers – yeah, I’m talking about you, Bella,” said Mia, 17, holding the small white dog. “And we had to make sure that she didn’t run wild where we were. We had to keep her so that she doesn’t go exploring and annoy anybody there.”

Mia and her mother, Gabriela, were visiting family in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak when they were taken hostage by Hamas during its killing spree through southern Israel on Oct. 7, leading to the conflict with the Palestinian Islamist group in Gaza. As part of a swap for Palestinian prisoners, the mother, daughter, aunt, and dog were released, but Mia’s uncle and her aunt’s partner remained in captivity.

“It was difficult. I held her (Bella) all the way there. It was an extra four kilos. And I’m just lucky enough that I managed to keep her through that whole situation and bring her back,” Mia said in her first media interview from her home in Jerusalem.

Descriptions of Hamas captivity have started to emerge with the return of some Israeli hostages. Some have described cramped conditions, lack of access to medication, and dwindling food. Children have recounted being ordered always to keep quiet.

“Luckily for me, Bella is unlike all the other small dogs that I personally know; she is rather quiet unless when she is playing or mad,” she said. “If they would have seen her as a bother, I think they would not have let me keep her, in all honesty.”

Mia’s father provided more details about what his daughter went through to keep Bella. “She was worried that something would happen to the dog if she left her behind,” he said.

Mia hid the dog under her pajamas as they were loaded into a vehicle that drove out of the kibbutz.

“Then they took them to tunnels … she had the dog with her the whole time,” he said. “When they came out of the tunnel, they had to climb up a ladder, that’s when the Hamas people noticed that this was not a doll; it was a living, breathing dog.”

“A bit of an argument ensued, and it was decided to let her keep the dog instead of leaving it behind.”

The captives cleaned up after the dog to prevent bad smells.

“She was very determined to bring the dog back, and one of the expressions that she has now, about the dog, is ‘I love you to Gaza and back.'”

More than 100 hostages were freed in the truce that ended on Friday. Since then, fighting has resumed, with Israel continuing its military offensive against Hamas in Gaza.

Mia described captivity as a tough experience that “will take quite a while to sink in.” Having Bella helped. “She was a huge help to me. She kept me busy. She was moral support.”

She expressed their commitment to fighting for the freedom of the other hostages, including her uncle and aunt’s partner.

“We miss them every day, and it feels wrong being here without them,” she said. “As much as I am happy to be back, we’re still not done.”