Exclusive: Rom Braslavsky, a former hostage who faced severe physical and mental abuse while held by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, shared his harrowing experience in an exclusive interview. During his captivity, which forced him to survive on minimal food like half a pita bread and some cheese, he revealed that he was injected with an unknown substance after collapsing from exhaustion during one of their trips.
At just 19 years old, Braslavsky was taken from the Supernova Festival on October 7, 2023, amid the brutal assaults led by Hamas, while he served as a security guard – a detail he kept secret for months. For four months, he presented himself as a 16-year-old working at festivals selling shawarma.
Things escalated when a terrorist, whom he described as a tech expert for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, came to interrogate him, equipped with a laptop and headphones. Fearing the exposure of his true identity, Braslavsky eventually revealed who he was.
“They slashed my food portions drastically. Previously, I had two or three pieces of pita and a liter of water. Afterward, I found myself with just half a pita, some cheese, and a small bottle of water,” he recounted.
For months, he was kept in isolation, devoid of sunlight, a darkness that drove him to banging his head against walls in despair. He was then taken to a large facility filled with tents, where he collapsed from hunger and fatigue, only to be injected with an unknown substance and forced to keep moving.
“I had no idea where I was heading. Surrounded by members of Islamic Jihad, I cried out, thinking it was the end for me,” he said.
Within this vast complex, crowded with tents and makeshift shelters fashioned from damaged vehicles, he endured extreme heat and a lack of privacy. He lived in such conditions for four months, under the watch of guards, one of whom routinely violated orders to not harm him.
“One guard did everything to dehumanize me, even going so far as to spit on my food before forcing me to eat,” Braslavsky lamented. “He mercilessly humiliated me, slapped me when I could barely breathe, and even showed me violent footage.”
Despite these horrors, he managed to retaliate during one encounter, attacking his guard with whatever he could find. However, when another terrorist intervened, the brutal cycle of punishment intensified.
“The days following that incident brought about some of the darkest moments of my life,” he recalled, noting that from there, he was subjected to continuous abuse.
Braslavsky said he was granted only brief moments of sleep, often violently assaulted and tortured. His physical state deteriorated severely, and at one point, he was at death’s door before the terrorists decided to treat him, bringing in doctors and nourishing him again after four months of relentless torture.
After his release on October 2025, following a prolonged negotiation effort, he emphasized that his faith has been his guiding light. “I carry a heavy past with me, but I strive for a brighter future,” he expressed, reflecting on the duality of his experience – wanting to forget yet knowing he cannot.
