As the Gaza war nears its first anniversary, an Israeli man taken hostage by Hamas on Friday recalled his confinement, saying he heard beatings while in captivity.
Shlomi Ziv, 41, was among the four Israeli hostages who were rescued alive from Hamas captivity in June.
They were kidnapped from the Nova music festival, a trance festival held in Israel’s Negev Desert, on October 7 last year.
Noa Argamani (25), Almog Meir Jan (21), Andrey Kozlov (27), and Shlomi Ziv (40) were rescued in a special operation by the IDF, ISA and Israel Police from 2 separate locations in the heart of Nuseirat after being kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova music festival.
They are in good… pic.twitter.com/PnkjL4GRQz
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 8, 2024
“There were quiet nights in captivity when you could hear every little sound, and then suddenly, you’d hear someone getting beaten,” Ziv was quoted as saying by the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post.
“It was chilling to hear the screams of that person being brutally beaten,” he added.
“One thing that my captivity in Gaza reinforced more than anything else is the understanding and realization that they don’t want any peace with us or to live next to us or with us,” Ziv said.
He also said the Hamas members called them “cockroaches” and always said that the next time they do something like the October 7 attack, “they won’t take hostages, but would kill them”.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, Ziv was working as security director at the Nova music festival when he was taken hostage.
Hamas members staged their worst-ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and took 251 hostages from the Nova music festival and Nir Oz kibbutz, triggering the war in Gaza.
64 Hostages Still Held By Hamas In Gaza
According to reports, while 117 of the 251 hostages have so far been freed, most of them women, children, and foreign workers, 64 people are still in Hamas’ captivity.
This is the moment the elite Yamam unit rescued former hostages Shlomi Ziv, Almog Meir Jan and Andrey Kozlov from captivity in Gaza.
Real life superheroes. pic.twitter.com/1fMGPu3xpz
— Israel ישראל (@Israel) June 10, 2024
Of the 64 thought to be alive, 57 are Israelis, six are Thai nationals and one is Nepalese, according to news agency AFP.
Fifty-two men, 10 women, two children, and eleven military personnel are said to be held in Gaza.
Most of the hostages were released during a week-long truce in late November in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
The Israeli army has confirmed 70 others are dead, 33 of whose bodies are still in Gaza.