Nova Party Hostage Survivor Recounts Harrowing Ordeal in Gaza
Translated & summarized from Channel 13 by baba
Segev Kalfon, a survivor of the Nova music festival massacre and subsequent hostage ordeal in Gaza, detailed his terrifying experience during a special broadcast. He described his initial belief that he would die and the profound psychological impact of his captivity. Kalfon revealed he learned Arabic as a survival strategy and expressed deep gratitude to IDF soldiers for his rescue. He urged the public to actively remember the fallen soldiers and victims.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Segev Kalfon, a Nova festival hostage survivor, described his harrowing three-year captivity in Gaza.
- He recounted initial moments of terror and his belief that his life was over.
- Kalfon learned Arabic as a survival strategy to understand his captors and surroundings.
- He expressed profound gratitude to IDF soldiers for their role in his rescue.
- Kalfon urged the public to actively remember and commemorate fallen soldiers and victims.
Segev Kalfon, who was abducted from the Nova music festival and held captive in Gaza for three years, shared his harrowing experience during a special broadcast commemorating the events of October 7th. Speaking with interviewer Omer Yardeni, Kalfon described the moments of terror in the kidnappers' truck and his immediate acceptance of death.
Kalfon recounted the intense fear in the initial hours of his captivity, convinced he would never see his family again. "At that moment, I didn't know it would end like this, I was sure my life was over," he stated. The psychological shock and paralyzing fear of his early days in Hamas captivity in Gaza plunged him into an emotional abyss that is difficult to describe.
He explained that the feelings during those difficult moments, when he was at the mercy of his captors, exceeded any human capacity for expression. "Words haven't been invented to express the feeling of what I went through in those moments," Kalfon said. The paralyzing anxiety and the real threat to his life were present every moment in the Strip.
Emerging from this helplessness, Kalfon developed resourcefulness and an active survival strategy: self-teaching Arabic to understand his surroundings and regain some control over his situation. "I have to learn their language, I have to learn them, it's part of my strategy to survive," he recalled the decision that helped him endure until his release and return to his family.
Alongside his return from captivity, Kalfon expressed deep and constant gratitude to God and to IDF soldiers who sacrificed their lives for his rescue. He emphasized his moral obligation and remembrance of these heroes, appealing directly and emotionally to the public to continue remembering and commemorating the soldiers and the fallen. Kalfon urged the public to take tangible actions to preserve their memory, saying, "Every post you see, share it, light a candle, do anything you can so they are not forgotten."
