Former Gaza hostage Rom Braslavski describes torture and sexual abuse

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EXCLUSIVE: Former hostage Rom Braslavski stated he endured bodily and emotional abuse whereas held above floor by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, at occasions surviving on simply half a pita bread and a morsel of cheese. And he was injected with an unknown substance after collapsing from exhaustion throughout a switch within the Strip, he advised Fox Information Digital in an unique interview.

Braslavski, 19, was kidnapped from the Supernova competition throughout the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, bloodbath, the place he had been working as a safety guard whereas finishing his obligatory navy service, a reality he hid for months. Throughout the first 4 months of his captivity, he posed as a 16-year-old who bought shawarma on the competition.

A terrorist he described as a Palestinian Islamic Jihad cyber professional later arrived with a laptop computer and headphones and started questioning him. Fearing his cowl had been blown, Braslavski then revealed his id.

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This screengrab from a video launched July 31 by Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad, exhibits Rom Braslavski launched by the Hostages and Lacking Households Discussion board ( Hostages and Lacking Households Discussion board/AFP through Getty Photos)

"They instantly diminished my meals by three-quarters. I used to be on half a pita, a little bit of cheese, a rotten tomato and a small bottle of water, when earlier than I obtained two or three pitas and a liter of water," he advised Fox Information Digital.

For the subsequent three months, Braslavski stated he was held in isolation with out daylight, describing the expertise as so darkish and lonely he started hitting his head in opposition to the wall.

At that time, he was pressured to stroll to a sprawling advanced of about 20,000 tents close to Nasser Hospital. Alongside the best way, he collapsed from starvation and exhaustion, was injected with an unknown substance and compelled to proceed transferring.

"I used to be encircled by members of Islamic Jihad. No person advised me the place we have been going. I cried, pondering they have been both going to kill me or take me to a tunnel to torture me extra aggressively," Braslavski advised Fox Information Digital.

Rom Braslavski and Mayor of Jerusalem Moshe Lion on the Jerusalem Winner Marathon. (Jerusalem Marathon/Arnon Bossani)

"I walked with out power, respiration air as if these have been my final breaths, pondering it will be the final time I'd see the sunshine of day. I stored going."

On the advanced, Braslavski stated tents have been tightly filled with no privateness, whereas automobiles destroyed by missiles had been transformed into makeshift shelters. The camp included donkeys and camels, and folks relieved themselves within the open. He described excessive warmth that made it troublesome to breathe.

Braslavski remained in a single such tent for 4 months. Whereas the terrorist in cost instructed others to not abuse him, one of many 4 guards — a younger man whose title he declined to share — ignored these orders.

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"He did all the things he might to interrupt me. As soon as, he introduced me meals, spat in it and compelled me to eat it. He humiliated me continuously. I had a small opening within the tent to breathe air, and he would come by and shut it. After I advised him I couldn’t breathe, he would slap me and snort with the others. He confirmed me movies of violence in opposition to our troopers. He would bind my arms and ft for no motive," Braslavski stated.

Though he was not purported to be bodily harmed with out trigger, Braslavski stated the guard routinely insulted him, threatened his household and compelled him into degrading acts till it grew to become insufferable.

Rom Braslavski was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on the Nova music competition Oct. 7, 2023. (The Hostages and Lacking Households Discussion board)

Braslavski advised Fox Information Digital the abuse left him overwhelmed with hatred, prompting him to assault the guard with all his energy and use no matter he might discover round him to inflict hurt, in the end succeeding.

"He began to run to get his Kalashnikov, and I spotted I might both proceed or take a bullet to the top. I stored hitting him with all my energy. He grew to become weak. I used to be additionally weak, however my physique and thoughts disconnected from all the things, and I continued," Braslavski recounted.

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Reef Peretz, chairman of the Nova Basis, appears on the names and faces of individuals killed throughout the Nova competition at "The Nova Music Pageant Exhibition Oct. seventh 06:29 AM, The Second Music Stood Nonetheless" April 18, 2024, in New York Metropolis. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Photos for The Nova Music Pageant Exhibition)

After three to 4 minutes, one other terrorist intervened, and the guard Braslavski had attacked was taken to a hospital.

"The day that adopted was the second darkest of my life after Oct. 7. It's marked in my reminiscence, my soul and my physique. The chief terrorist determined to reply severely to what I did, and, from there, I entered a loop of fixed abuse," he stated.

Braslavski stated he was thereafter allowed to sleep not more than an hour and a half per day in brief intervals.

"They'd hit me with no matter that they had readily available. I underwent extreme torture, bondage and sexual abuse. All the pieces they might do to me, they did. My physique remains to be coated in scars. After 4 months of torture, I used to be clinically lifeless, rolling my eyes and passing out. They determined to cease the violence and introduced docs to deal with me with injections and gave me meals once more," he added.

Rom Braslavski and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni (Workplace of the Prime Minister of Italy )

Throughout Operation Gideon’s Chariots, which started in Could 2025 with the acknowledged aim of defeating Hamas and securing the return of hostages by navy stress, Braslavski stated the terrorist overseeing his guards was injured and misplaced a member of the family, triggering one other cycle of torture and hunger.

"I weighed 49 kilos (108 kilos), and the senior terrorist, who weighed 90 kilos (198 kilos), would soar on my neck and attempt to break it. I used to be on the verge of loss of life once more. That's when the propaganda video exhibiting me was launched, and it's potential to see marks on my physique from the abuse. My bones have been protruding. I might now not go to the toilet usually. All the pieces in my physique stopped functioning. I used to be near loss of life, and that's when President Donald Trump got here into the image," he advised Fox Information Digital.

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With every step ahead in negotiations towards a deal, Braslavski stated his situation step by step improved till he was launched in October 2025 after 738 days in captivity.

What retains him going as a free man, he stated, is his religion.

"I've a darkish previous, however I should have a shiny future. I wish to overlook what occurred, though I can’t. God gave me again my life as a present — not as soon as, however twice. I have to do a minimum of the minimal, which is to stay, rehabilitate myself and put this all behind me," he stated.

Amelie Botbol is a contract journalist based mostly in Tel Aviv. Her articles have appeared within the New York Publish, Canada’s Nationwide Publish, and the Washington Instances. Amelie may be adopted on X @DatReporter