Kaid Farhan Elkadi, a 52-year-old Arab hostage who was rescued from an underground tunnel, has not seen the sun for eight months.
He was rescued on Tuesday in a "complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip," the Israeli military said.
"Elkadije was worried about losing his sight.
"He checked if he could see by putting his finger in his eye to test reflexes," said Ata Abu Medigam, former mayor of Rahat in southern Israel.
His cousin said that Elkadi was not treated differently because he is a Muslim.
He was kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel and is the eighth hostage rescued by Israeli forces since the start of the Gaza war.
The father of eleven children is in the hospital undergoing examinations and is in a stable condition.
Elkadi told his relatives "about difficult days and very cruel imprisonment", Medigam told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
"One of the hostages he was held with died after two months."
The Israeli army said they found Elkadi in the tunnel "while he was alone".
The military cannot release further details "for the safety of the hostages".
Elkadi's cousin Fadi Abu Sahiban said that he did not receive special treatment, but they let him pray.
He could not communicate with people outside the tunnel and was constantly afraid of falling bombs, Elkadi's relative said.
"He was listening to the shelling and his body was shaking.
"Every day he thought was his last," said Abu Sahiban.
Elkadi is from a Bedouin village in the Rahat region of the Negev desert.
"I have been waiting for this moment. I swear to you," Elkadi told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call from the hospital.
He said there are people still waiting.
Elkadi worked for years as a security guard at Kibbutz Magen, near Israel's border with Gaza, from where he was abducted 10 months ago.
The Israeli military moved to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, during which around 1.200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
Since then, more than 40.530 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
America, Egypt and Qatar are trying to broker a negotiated ceasefire, which would see Hamas release 104 prisoners, including 34 who are feared dead, in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli jails.
Talks have continued in Qatar in recent days, but so far there has been no progress on the key issues.
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