Captivity survivor Rom Braslavski shared on social media a photograph of himself from his military service, taken shortly before he was abducted to the Gaza Strip on October 7.
Alongside the photograph, Braslavski recounted the difficult journey he endured in captivity, from the period when he managed to conceal his military identity until the moment it was exposed.
He wrote about the photograph: “A young soldier, just moments before his life comes to an end and he is abducted to Gaza." He added: “Soldier, hold your head up, forget about showing off. You’re going to be proud of your flag and your uniform. That is my message to the soldier in the picture."
He continued: “During my first six months in captivity in Gaza, I managed to withstand the pressure and the harsh interrogations, and I concealed my identity as a soldier. It wasn’t easy, but I succeeded. But after six months, things escalated. The psychological pressure that they could discover who I was at any moment intensified, physical pain began to take over, and the terrorists stepped things up. They came in with a laptop and started gathering information. At that point, I realized I was done for."
He described the dramatic moment when the turning point occurred during his captivity in Deir al-Balah: “5:30 a.m., the central camps of Deir al-Balah, the first muezzin. I pretended to be asleep and pressed my ear close to listen to what they were saying, and I realized they were about to discover who I was. I took advantage of that initial moment and confessed. I confessed to the most senior and powerful Islamic Jihad figures in Gaza that I was an Israeli soldier. I was afraid. But I didn’t hesitate. What happened afterward is unbearable, and therefore I won’t go into detail here. Thank God it’s over."
Alongside his account of captivity, Braslavski raised difficult questions concerning the events of the day he was abducted: “October 7, 2023. I, Rom Braslavski, still want answers. Why didn’t the Air Force planes fire on October 7? Why has no one been declared responsible? How did they break into our country like that? How did they allow us, thousands of people at Nova, to be slaughtered? And why?"