Hostage Survivor Recounts Ordeal in Gaza, Escape Attempt

Three years after the October 7 Hamas attack, Avinatan Or has described his 738 days of captivity in Gaza, detailing his girlfriend Noa Argamani's kidnapping, his own daring escape attempt, and the psychological toll of his ordeal. The harrowing accounts are part of his newly released memoir, 'Through the Earth,' which has become a bestseller in Israel.

Or and Argamani were among the attendees of the Nova music festival when Hamas attacked. According to Or, they fled the festival and hid in a ditch for approximately two hours before being discovered. In the moments of their capture, Or recalled hearing Argamani scream and attempted to help her escape, but they were quickly surrounded by Hamas militants. He witnessed Argamani being taken away on a motorcycle, an image that became globally recognized. Or himself was then subjected to a violent assault by a group of captors before being taken into Gaza.

He recounted being told by a captor that Argamani had been freed, a deception that led him to believe she was safe while he remained imprisoned. Argamani was eventually released 245 days into the war. Or spent most of his 738 days in captivity in isolation, in tunnels where he could not stand upright. He described rationing food given to him every four days and attempting to maintain his mental clarity by counting everything and learning Arabic from his guards.

Driven by a desire to escape, Or began secretly digging a tunnel from his cell using makeshift tools. After months of effort, he broke through a sandbag wall and began digging towards the surface, eventually reaching the ruins of a collapsed house and seeing daylight. His escape attempt was discovered when a captor arrived with his food. He was subsequently tortured, with his hands bound and hung from the ceiling, and tied to a chair to deprive him of sleep.

Or also shared a moment he described as miraculous. On his 79th day in captivity, he felt compelled to pray. Hours later, a bomb struck the tunnel, causing it to collapse. While trying to escape the wreckage, he was pulled free by other captors just before the section he had been in collapsed again. He attributed his survival to divine intervention.

Upon his release, Or stated that a Hamas commander warned him to leave Israel, claiming Hamas would repeat the October 7 attacks as long as Israel existed. The ordeal also marked the end of his relationship with Argamani, a change he attributed to the profound impact of their experiences over their two years of separation. The terrorist seen driving Argamani away on a motorcycle during the initial attack was later killed by Israeli forces, a development Or acknowledged with the sentiment that one less terrorist remains in the world.