{"id":137817,"date":"2025-11-17T10:48:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T10:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/137817\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T10:48:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T10:48:10","slug":"ex-captive-avinatan-or-details-unsuccessful-escape-attempt-severe-beatings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/137817\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-captive Avinatan Or details unsuccessful escape attempt, severe beatings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Freed hostage Avinatan Or<\/a> on Sunday night recounted harrowing details from his time in Hamas captivity, describing his failed escape attempt, severe beatings and the ways he kept himself focused while stuck in Gaza\u2019s tunnels for more than two years.<\/p>\n

Or, who was released last month as part of the ceasefire deal, was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from the Nova festival on October 7, 2023, and was held alone during his captivity. His girlfriend, Noa Argamani,<\/a> was also kidnapped from the festival and was rescued by Israeli forces in June 2024.<\/p>\n

Speaking alongside Argamani and recently freed captives Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Or told the audience at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly, taking place in Washington, DC, that he sometimes didn\u2019t see another human being for days.<\/p>\n

He described his escape attempt, which was first revealed shortly after his release.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to escape,\u201d he told the conference. \u201cI dug for weeks through sandbags, through a collapsed tunnel towards the surface. I made myself work to change my own destiny.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He continued, \u201cOne day, as I was digging, I hit the root of a tree. I smelled it. It felt like touching life in the place of death. Then, one night, I reached the outside. I saw stars for the first time in years.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2014 \u05d6\u05de\u05df \u05d0\u05de\u05ea (@zmanemet308) November 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI wrote \u2018hostage\u2019 on a white sandbag,\u201d he said, \u201cplanning my next step, but they found out. They beat me for days, they tied me to a chair for a week.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI was sure I will die there, but even then, I wrote three things next to my bed: \u2018This too shall pass,\u2019 \u2018patience,\u2019 and \u2018let it be.\u2019 These words kept me human.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was underground in Gaza for 738 days, alone, chained, without light and without food,\u201d he continued. \u201cI was one of the last hostages to return home. I was in the tunnels alone during my entire captivity. For more than two years, I did not see sunlight, days passed without anyone speaking to me, I did not hear my language, no one called my name. The hardest part is not knowing anything, not what day it is, not what happened in the world, not whether the people I love are still alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo survive, I created a few rules for myself, the first: patience, every day I told myself \u2018just one more day,\u2019 \u2018don\u2019t think any further ahead.\u2019 Patience was my lifeline,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tReleased hostage Avinatan Or and his girlfriend, ex hostage Noa Argamani, fly in an Israeli Air Force helicopter to a hospital in central Israel, following his release from Hamas captivity on October 13, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)<\/p>\n

\u201cRule number two: find common ground,\u201d he said. \u201cI talked to my captors about faith, about the Torah and the Quran, about Joseph and Yusuf, about Abraham and Ibrahim, different names but universal stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRule number three: anger destroys,\u201d he continued. \u201cYou can\u2019t survive when you\u2019re angry. I allowed myself to feel it sometimes, but I let go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRule four: keep my brain working,\u201d he said. \u201cMy engineering background saved me, I counted steps, collected data, built a small lamp from broken cables, planned escape routes in my head and told myself \u2018you won\u2019t let others decide your fate.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tReleased hostage Avinatan Or, who was recently released from Hamas captivity in Gaza, is welcomed as he returns from the hospital to his home in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Shiloh on October 21, 2025. (AP\/Ohad Zwigenberg)<\/p>\n

Speaking after Or at the conference, fellow recently freed hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal told the audience that while he was in captivity, he saw the support that Jewish communities around the world were giving to the hostages, and that it gave him hope.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore I was taken down to the tunnels, I managed to listen to the radio a little,\u201d he said. \u201cI heard what was happening in Israel and around the world, about all the love and support from the Jewish communities in America and around the world. You prayed for me and for all the other hostages to return home safely as soon as possible. You gave me hope and strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur new journey is just beginning,\u201d said Evyatar David, who was also freed from captivity last month. \u201cA journey of healing and coping together with our families and amazing people like you who support us. We will recover, rebuild, and emerge stronger than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tReleased hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal attends a rally at Hostages Square, Tel Aviv, November 15, 2025. (Lior Rotstein\/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)<\/p>\n

The four former hostages spoke at the event in Washington ahead of their expected Thursday meeting at the White House with US President Donald Trump, who invited all 20 hostages released last month during the ceasefire he brokered between Israel and Hamas.<\/p>\n

It is unknown whether all 20 hostages will attend, and several former captives on Sunday accused the Prime Minister\u2019s Office of hijacking the trip and giving them worse travel conditions than were offered to them by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n


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