Rom Braslavski
Israeli hostage of the Gaza War
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Rom Braslavski (Hebrew: רום ברסלבסקי; born 4 December 2003) is a former Israeli hostage who was abducted from the Nova music festival during the October 7 attacks. At the time, he was working as a security guard while an active-duty soldier on leave from the Logistics Corps. Braslavski assisted with rescue efforts during the Nova music festival massacre until he was abducted to the Gaza Strip by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. During the ensuing Gaza war, he remained in captivity until 13 October 2025. He was one of the last living Israeli hostages to be released. After his release, he spoke about the conditions he was held in and reported being physically and sexually abused. He has criticized the Israeli government for its conduct towards the hostages.
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Rom Braslavski | |
|---|---|
רום ברסלבסקי | |
Braslavski speaking in Hostages Square in January 2026 | |
| Born | 4 December 2003 |
| Known for | Being held hostage in Gaza |
Early life
Rom Braslavski is a German-Israeli citizen[1] who grew up in Katamonim, Jerusalem.[2] He has two brothers.[3] His parents are divorced, and Braslavski and his elder brother reportedly began working at the age of 14 to help support the family financially.[4][5] He left school without graduating. Although he was exempt from mandatory military service, he enlisted through the Education and Youth Corps[2] and served in the Logistic Corps.[6] He is a resident of Pisgat Ze’ev, an Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem.[7][8]
Captivity in Gaza
Abduction
On the morning of 7 October 2023, Braslavski was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival while on leave from the military.[9][6][10] The massacre began at approximately 6:30 am. According to testimony from a survivor who was with him when the attack began, they and others gathered to throw stones in an attempt to repel the attackers, which temporarily forced them to retreat before a grenade exploded and Braslavski disappeared from the survivor’s sight.[1] Additional survivor accounts state that Braslavski assisted in evacuating wounded attendees and collected the bodies of victims to prevent their abduction to Gaza. Witnesses described his conduct during the attack as calm and courageous under fire[11] and that his hands were injured.[12]
At around 10:00 am, during the attack, Braslavski reportedly managed to contact his mother by phone, telling her that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had taken control of the situation, that he was in a safe place, and that he expected to be evacuated within an hour.[12] Braslavski was abducted around 3:00 pm.[1] The next day, his older brother went to the festival site to search for any signs of him.[5]
Signs of life
The first sign of life from Braslavski reached his family through Sasha Trufanov, another hostage abducted from his home in Nir Oz on 7 October. Trufanov was released in February 2025 as part of a Hamas–Israel prisoner exchange deal after 498 days in captivity.[13] In early March 2025, he met with Braslavski's family and told them that they had been held together for part of their imprisonment, saying that Braslavski had regained strength and morale during that period.[14]
In April 2025, 558 days after his abduction, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a first video showing Braslavski alive in captivity.[15] Three months later, in mid-July 2025, the organization claimed that it had lost contact with the cell that had abducted him and that his whereabouts were unknown.[16] His family later stated: "No one knows where Rom is – neither the IDF nor Islamic Jihad. The only thing we knew was that he was being held alone."[17]
On 31 July 2025, the Islamic Jihad published another video showing Braslavski in visibly deteriorated health, appearing extremely weak and emaciated, reporting severe hunger and thirst, and documenting his experiences about going days without food or surviving on lentils or a few falafel balls per day.[18] He stated that he spent most of his days laying on a mattress and the guards became more brutal in treatment as the humanitarian situation in Gaza became worse.[1] Medical experts, including Professor Yuval Heled, estimated that Braslavski had lost 33–50% of his body weight and warned of immediate life-threatening conditions due to severe malnutrition, dehydration, and damage to vital organs.[18] The footage drew condemnation from various government officials, including David Lammy and Kaja Kallas.[19] Following its release, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Braslavski's family, expressing deep shock and pledging that the state would do everything possible to bring him home.[20] According to CNN, the video was probably released by Palestinian militants as a tactic to revive stalemated ceasefire negotiations.[21]
Efforts to release
In April 2024, families of hostages held a weekly rally at Hostages Square where Braslavski's brother Ziv and other hostages' siblings called for their release.[22] In July 2024, Braslavski's brother and cousin spoke to London supporters about Braslavski's captivity, asking for them to remember his name and pray for him.[5]
In August 2025, US cousins of Braslavski began to petition President Donald Trump for Braslavski to be given US citizenship in hopes that it would improve his chances of release.[23] At a rally attended by thousands of protesters in Hostages Square, Braslavski's father urged Netanyahu to end the war.[21]
While speaking at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee with other hostage family members in September 2025, Braslavski's father grew irate and yelled at the members stating: "instead of having a toast on Rosh Hashanah, you will be drinking the blood of the hostages.....You will drink their blood because they are dead." He questioned if they cared that his son was still held hostage and possibly dying.[24] Braslavski's father continued echoing concerns of hostages being abandoned by the government at a rally at Hostages Square with the father of hostage Nimrod Cohen, both blaming the government for not acting to have the hostages released but choosing to expand the war.[25]
Release
On 13 October 2025, after 737 days in captivity, Braslavski was released from the Gaza Strip as part of the Gaza peace plan mediated by the United States.[26] He and 19 others were the last living Israeli hostages released during the Gaza war.[9]
Post release activities
Account about his captivity
Braslavski was held primarily in Deir al-Balah.[2] After his release his mother told reporters that he was offered extra food to attempt to persuade him to convert to Islam; she also stated that he was beaten with a whip and other objects between April and July.[27] On 5 November 2025 after his release Braslavski described his treatment as a captive to Channel 13.[28] In March 2025, the temporary ceasefire ended. Braslavski stated that his conditions worsened around that time because he did not convert to Islam: his captors blindfolded him, blocked his ears with stones, reduced his rations, and beat him multiple times per day.[9] He also stated that they sexually assaulted him by removing his clothes and tying him up. He stated that: "The goal was to crush my dignity."[28] He was the first released Israeli male hostage to report sexual abuse.[28]
In May 2026, Braslavski recounted attacking one of his captors to Ynet. According to Braslavski, his captors treated him poorly because he was a soldier.[2]
Other activities
In early November 2025, Braslavski spoke to a crowd gathered at Hostages Square thanking them for their support while he was held captive. He praised their efforts, highlighted Israeli hostages held prior to the war such as Avera Mengistu and Hadar Goldin and their families and promised to keep fighting to have all hostages released.[29]
About a month after his release Braslavski posted on social media that he experiences frequent panic attacks as a result of his captivity and feels ignored by Israeli government officials, such as Prime Minister Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. In the post he alleged that the government was dodging his outreach and received NIS 60,000 ($18,600 USD) compensation which he felt was "simply an embarrassment" as the average national salary is NIS 14,800 ($4,595 USD) per month. Braslavski also praised fundraising done for captives and other grassroot operations in his post.[30][31] Although he was invited to visit the White House with other released hostages, he did not attend due to his mental health issues stemming from his trauma.[32]
In January 2026, Braslavski reported that he was denied entry to a Tel Aviv night club where the singer Nasrin Kadri had invited him to meet her. He accused Kadri's boyfriend of assaulting him "like a Hamas member", stating that the alleged attack was "the most shocking thing that's ever happened to me".[33][34]
In April 2026, The Times of Israel reported that Braslavski received hate messages from Israelis after calling for treating Arabs with mutual respect on Instagram.[35] In May 2026, he spoke at an October Council press conference demanding Netanyahu's government and all Knesset members resign because of the 7 October attack. He said no one had apologized to him for what had happened.[36][37] He told Ynet that he has not recovered physically or mentally and that he does not feel like the Israeli public cares about him or the other hostages.[2] During a June 2026 visit to meet President Donald Trump, Braslavski wore a t-shirt saying: "Thank you very much, Trump” in Hebrew.[32][38][39]
The IDF reported that it had killed the PIJ commander who had held Braslavski hostage in June 2026. Braslavski posted on social media about his reaction to the news. He wrote: "Now I can say 100% that I won" and "Have fun in hell".[40][41] The following month, Braslavski spoke at a protest in Hostages Square organized by the October Council calling for a state commission of inquiry into the October 7 attacks.[42]
Braslavski is the host of a podcast, "October 8", the first episode of which was released on 16 August 2026 and featured an interview with Itamar Ben-Gvir.[43] During the interview Braslavski asked Ben-Gvir to allow him to personally execute Hamas members convicted under the Death Penalty for Terrorists Law. Ben-Gvir pledged to "turn the world upside down" to ensure Braslavski could take part in any executions.[44]