As the Gaza war nears its first anniversary, an Israeli man held hostage by Hamas on Friday recalled his imprisonment, saying he heard the sound of beatings while in captivity.
Shlomi Ziv, 41, was one of four Israeli hostages rescued from Hamas captivity in June.
He was abducted 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 from 2 separate locations in the center of Nusseirat in a special operation by the IDF, ISA, and Israel Police. Kidnapped by Hamas from Nova concert.
They are in good condition… pic.twitter.com/PnkjL4GRQz
– Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) 8 June 2024
Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post quoted Ziv as saying, “There were quiet nights in captivity when you could hear every little sound, and then suddenly, you hear the sound of someone being beaten.”
He said, “It was heart-wrenching to hear the screams of that man being brutally beaten.”
Ziv said, “The one thing that was reinforced more than anything else because of my captivity in Gaza is this understanding and realization that they do not want any peace with us or to live next to us or with us. “
He also said that Hamas members called him “cockroaches” and always said that the next time they did something like the October 7 attack, “they would not 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 launched their worst attack yet on Israel on October 7, 2023, taking hostages from the Nova music festival and 251 people from the Nir Oz kibbutz, sparking the war in Gaza.
Hamas still holds 64 people hostage in Gaza
According to reports, so far 117 of the 251 hostages, mostly women, children and foreign workers, have been released, while 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 израл (@Israel) 10 June 2024
According to news agency AFP, of the 64 people believed to be alive, 57 are Israelis, six Thai citizens and one Nepali.
Fifty-two men, 10 women, two children and eleven military personnel are said to be detained in Gaza.
Most of the hostages were released during a week-long ceasefire in late November in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
The Israeli military confirmed another 70 people killed, with 33 bodies still in Gaza.
