Hostage Avinatan Or Details Daring Escape Attempt and Captivity

Avinatan Or, who was held hostage by Hamas after being abducted from the Nova music festival, has spoken for the first time about his captivity and a meticulously planned escape attempt. Held in near-total isolation, Or feared being forgotten, like Ron Arad, and decided to take his fate into his own hands. He spent months planning a complex escape, utilizing skills acquired throughout his life, from his childhood in the Shiloh settlement and work in construction, to his service in the elite Sayeret Rimon unit, his engineering studies at Ben-Gurion University, and his work at Nvidia. He even drew on his past as a yeshiva student.

Or's escape plan involved using a metal wire, a stolen pickaxe, and an electrical cable, along with a LED lamp. He patiently dug through a sandbag wall in his cell, which was too low for his height, driven by a desire not to be a prisoner in his own mind. He stated, "I chose not to be a prisoner in my head. I am not willing to sit and just have my fate decided. No matter how much they narrow my right to choose, even in the most limited space that exists, I still have the right to choose."

He discovered a weak point in his cell's defenses by feeling a draft through the sandbags. Through conversations with his captors, he cunningly gathered information about his location in Gaza. To evade surveillance cameras, he used a trash bag to conceal parts of his cell and improvised a 60-meter extension cord to facilitate his digging over six months. He prepared a bag for his escape, including found clothing and a planned note reading "Hostage." He also wrote farewell letters to his parents, anticipating the possibility of not surviving.

Or revealed that his parents' opposition to a deal for his release, while they fought for him in other ways, did not surprise him. He explained, "When my parents met me, they said, 'We hope you're not angry with us.' I told them, 'I'm not angry with you, I'm proud of you.' A person must go with their truth even if it is unpleasant for them."

Despite his near-successful escape, Or was recaptured after a brief moment of confusion when he saw the sky and a child walking with a bag, mistaking it for freedom. He was returned to his cell and endured another year of severe suffering, hunger, and torture, chained to a wall in a cramped space. Upon his eventual release, one of his captors warned him of future attacks, saying, "As long as there is one Jew in the Land of Israel, we will slaughter you again and again." Or responded, "Look at the Gaza Strip, everything here is destruction, everything here is death. When the war ends and the crossings open, will you leave for Egypt?" The captor replied, "No." Or then said, "Excellent, this is also my home."

Or also reflected on the cyclical nature of the conflict, telling his captors, "In 100 years, there will be Jews here. In 100 years, there will be Arabs here. What do we choose to do in these 100 years? Do you want my child to kill your child and your grandchild to kill my grandchild? Or will we manage to find a solution so that we can all live here? Because we will live here, one way or another, we will live here together."

He and his then-girlfriend, Noa Argamani, who was rescued in Operation Arnon, were separated after his return. Or stated, "In the end, we both went through a lot in these two years, each one changed in his own way, and things that might have fit before, today no longer fit. So it ended. And it's okay that it ended. And we move on, each one on his own path."