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Freed hostage Rom Braslavski details abuse, starvation during 738 days in Gaza captivity
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EXCLUSIVE: Former hostage Rom Braslavski said he endured physical and emotional abuse while held above ground by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, at times surviving on just half a pita bread and a morsel of cheese, and that he was injected with an unknown substance after collapsing from exhaustion during a transfer in the Strip, he told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.
Braslavski, 19, was abducted from the Supernova festival during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, where he had been working as a security guard while completing his mandatory military service — a fact he concealed for months. During the first four months of his captivity, he posed as a 16-year-old who sold shawarma at the festival.
A terrorist he described as a Palestinian Islamic Jihad cyber expert later arrived with a laptop and headphones and began questioning him. Fearing his cover had been blown, Braslavski then revealed his identity.
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This screengrab from a video released July 31 by Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad, shows Rom Braslavski released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum ( Hostages and Missing Families Forum/AFP via Getty Images)
«They immediately reduced my food by three-quarters. I was on half a pita, a bit of cheese, a rotten tomato and a small bottle of water, when before I received two or three pitas and a liter of water,» he told Fox News Digital.
For the next three months, Braslavski said he was held in isolation without daylight, describing the experience as so dark and lonely that he began hitting his head against the wall.
At that point, he was forced to walk to a sprawling complex of about 20,000 tents near Nasser Hospital. Along the way, he collapsed from hunger and exhaustion, was injected with an unknown substance and forced to continue moving.
«I was encircled by members of Islamic Jihad. Nobody told me where we were going. I cried, thinking they were either going to kill me or take me to a tunnel to torture me more aggressively,» Braslavski told Fox News Digital.
Rom Braslavski and Mayor of Jerusalem Moshe Lion at the Jerusalem Winner Marathon. (Jerusalem Marathon/Arnon Bossani)
«I walked without energy, breathing air as if those were my last breaths, thinking it would be the last time I would see the light of day. I kept going,» he added.
At the complex, Braslavski said tents were tightly packed with no privacy, while vehicles destroyed by missiles had been converted into makeshift shelters. The camp included donkeys and camels, and people relieved themselves in the open. He described extreme heat that made it difficult to breathe.
Braslavski remained in one such tent for four months. While the terrorist in charge instructed others not to abuse him, one of the four guards — a young man whose name he could not share — ignored those orders.
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«He did everything he could to break me. Once, he brought me food, spat in it, and forced me to eat it. He humiliated me constantly. I had a small opening in the tent to breathe air, and he would come by and close it. When I told him I couldn’t breathe, he would slap me and laugh with the others. He showed me videos of violence against our soldiers. He would bind my hands and feet for no reason,» Braslavski said.
Although he was not supposed to be physically harmed without cause, Braslavski said the guard routinely insulted him, threatened his family, and forced him into degrading acts until it became unbearable.
Rom Braslavski was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists at the Nova music festival Oct. 7, 2023. (The Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
Braslavski told Fox News Digital that the abuse left him overwhelmed by hatred, prompting him to attack the guard with all his strength and use whatever he could find around him to inflict harm, ultimately succeeding.
«He started to run to get his Kalashnikov, and I realized I could either continue or take a bullet to the head. I kept hitting him with all my strength. He became weak. I was also weak, but my body and mind disconnected from everything, and I continued,» Braslavski recounted.
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Reef Peretz, chairman of the Nova Foundation, looks at the names and faces of people killed during the Nova festival at «The Nova Music Festival Exhibition Oct. 7th 06:29 AM, The Moment Music Stood Still» April 18, 2024, in New York City. (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images for The Nova Music Festival Exhibition)
After three to four minutes, another terrorist intervened and the guard Braslavski had attacked was taken to hospital.
«The day that followed was the second darkest of my life after Oct. 7. It is marked in my memory, my soul and my body. The chief terrorist decided to respond severely to what I did, and from there I entered a loop of constant abuse,» he said.
Braslavski said he was thereafter allowed to sleep no more than an hour and a half per day, in short intervals.
«They would hit me with whatever they had on hand. I underwent severe torture, bondage and sexual abuse. Everything they could do to me, they did. My body is still covered in scars. After four months of torture, I was clinically dead—rolling my eyes and passing out. They decided to stop the violence and brought doctors to treat me with injections and gave me food again,» he added.
Rom Braslavski and Italian PM Giorgia Meloni (Office of the Prime Minister of Italy )
During Operation Gideon’s Chariots, which began in May 2025 with the stated goal of defeating Hamas and securing the return of hostages through military pressure, Braslavski said the terrorist overseeing his guards was injured and lost a family member, triggering another cycle of torture and starvation.
«I weighed 49 kilos, and the senior terrorist, who weighed 90 kilos, would jump on my neck and try to break it. I was on the verge of death again. That is when the propaganda video showing me was released, and it is possible to see marks on my body from the abuse. My bones were protruding. I could no longer go to the bathroom normally. Everything in my body stopped functioning. I was close to death, and that is when President Donald Trump came into the picture,» he told Fox News Digital.
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With each step forward in negotiations toward a deal, Braslavski said his condition gradually improved, until he was released in October 2025 after 738 days in captivity.
What keeps him going as a free man, he said, is his faith.
«I have a dark past, but I must have a bright future. I want to forget what happened, although I can’t. God gave me back my life as a gift—not once, but twice. I need to do at least the minimum, which is to live, rehabilitate myself and put this all behind me,» he said.
anti semitism, hamas, terrorism, israel, conflicts, family personal freedoms
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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s game plan for government-run grocery stores faced criticism Monday after a city official told reporters a «library-card-esque system» may be employed to prevent abuse of the 30% discounted markets.
Mamdani took a question from a reporter who asked about preventing bulk purchases of groceries at the artificial discount from being re-sold at MSRP or higher.
The mayor responded that the government grocery Request-for-Proposal makes clear «this is a program for New Yorkers to be able to put food on the table, not a program for people to be able to make a quick buck through reselling. I’m going to pass it over to our EDC head, Jeanny Pak, to add some additional details.»
MAMDANI’S CITY GROCERY PLAN COULD LEAVE TAXPAYERS PAYING FOR EVERY BANANA
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani holds up bananas as he speaks at a food distribution center on July 27, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
It was Pak’s follow-up that raised eyebrows, given Mamdani and many Democrats’ staunch opposition to voter ID and Republicans’ SAVE America Act moving through Congress.
«[W]e are looking to make sure that we target New Yorkers, whether it be a sort of a library card-esque thing, and also we manage who’s buying and that is focused on everyday New Yorkers,» Pak said.
«So, we are mindful of that, and so we’re going to make sure that we have all the things in place to ensure that that does not happen.»
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When asked about the apparent divergence between Pak’s response referencing a possible ID card-type system and opposition to voter ID, a Mamdani spokesperson said it was an apples-to-oranges contrast.
«Comparisons to voter ID laws or the SAVE Act simply do not apply. This is not an identification system, nor is it a mechanism to verify who someone is, where they live, or how much they earn,» Mamdani’s spokesperson said.
«It is a practical inventory management tool to ensure affordable groceries remain available for the people who need them instead of being cleared off shelves for resale.»
EXPERTS SCORCH MAMDANI’S GROCERY PLAN AS AN ‘ILLUSION’ THAT WILL HAVE TAXPAYERS FOOTING THE BILL
The spokesperson pointed to the mayor’s comments specifically regarding bulk-buying concerns, saying that was the premise of the reporter’s question — not whether people from Pennsylvania, New Jersey or upstate New York would be able to shop at the subsidized outlets.
«To be absolutely clear: NYC Grocery stores will be open to everyone,» the spokesperson said.
«There will be no system to verify identity, residency, or income, and no one will be asked to show ID to shop.»
Instead of an «ID,» the spokesperson said the stores may employ a «customer card» similar to loyalty programs at other grocers like ShopRite, Food Lion or Weis.
The «customer card» would be designed by the «private operator» of the city-run store to «help manage supply and prevent people from buying large quantities of discounted staples for resale» and is strictly intended to «make sure the savings reach families putting food on the table.»
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La Marqueta, a Latino marketplace in East Harlem, is chosen as the site of the first city-owned grocery store announced by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, on April 14, 2026. (Kendall Rodriguez/Newsday RM/Getty Images)
Customers will not need to apply through City Hall or any agency, the spokesperson added.
Critics were unconvinced.
«ID for government cheese,» said Philadelphia radio host Rich Zeoli.
«After all, we have to make sure no one crosses the border and if they do, the police will be called. So it’s good to see Mamdani now supports ID (just not for voting), border control, and law enforcement,» Zeoli tweeted.
Former Texas congressional candidate Nick Plumb commented on X that «Mamdani wants to protect taxpayer funded grocery store[s] from non-NYC residents they’ll need an ID card to enter. You can[t] make this up.»
Former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a supporter of voter ID who also opposed the Old Dominion’s recent failed attempt to redraw congressional lines to Democrats’ advantage, also criticized the mayor.
«So let me get this straight: Taxpayer-funded grocery store? Better show a valid ID or you can’t buy milk,» Miyares said.
«Voting for the people who decide how those taxes get spent? A valid ID is somehow ‘racist’ and ‘oppressive’. Unbelievable,» he said.
When asked whether the mayor’s office believed the loyalty card system constituted a form of identification, a Mamdani spokesperson directed Fox News Digital to a paragraph in the Request for Proposal (RFP) that prospective store operators must follow:
«The Operator(s) will create a voluntary free-to-access membership card program to monitor sales activity, and implement the discount program and any associated demand management measures. The savings card shall not be required for physical access to N.Y.C. Groceries site(s) and shall be made easily available to any individual requesting one,» the section read.
«Make it make sense,» added FOX News host Sean Hannity.
New York Republican Congresswoman Claudia Tenney added: «So ID for government grocery stores to stop people abusing the system is fine, but requiring ID to vote not? Got it.»
SAVE Act supporter Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., added on X that the hypocrisy must «stop.»
«Democrats: Are fighting to ensure you don’t have to show an ID before voting in our elections. Also Democrats: Want you to show an ID before entering a supermarket.»
«Oh, the irony is too much,» said X CEO Elon Musk.
zohran mamdani, state and local, domestic policies, grocery deals, new york city, socialism, voter fraud concerns, voting
INTERNACIONAL
Masacre en el Mar Negro: un ataque ucraniano con drones provoca siete muertos en una playa de Rusia
INTERNACIONAL
Moscow bombing exposes potential security gaps around Putin’s military elite, expert says
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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s drive to project «normalcy» in Moscow may have created a dangerous security blind spot, giving adversaries like Ukraine greater opportunities to target the Kremlin’s military elite, an analyst said Monday.
The assessment came after a deadly explosion ripped through an upscale Moscow restaurant on Aug. 1, where a senior Russian general was reportedly attending a private celebration. Several Russian media outlets claimed the bombing targeted Col. Gen. Alexander Chaiko, who led the troops that made a botched attempt to storm the Ukrainian capital in 2022 and recently was appointed the chief of Russia’s aerospace forces. The claims could not be independently verified.
If Chaiko was indeed at the restaurant, «that would establish a compelling motive for Ukraine,» Dr. Mark Episkopos, a Eurasia research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told Fox News Digital. «But there has been an ongoing discourse inside Russia that, despite numerous such attacks, Russian elites and even military figures continue to flout [operational security] best practices by holding parties like this in the first place.»
The Russian Embassy in Rome accused Kyiv of carrying out the attack and said in a statement Aug. 2 that the attack was «evidence that the Ukrainian terrorist contagion is already beginning to spread.»
MAYOR CALLS UPSCALE RESTAURANT BOMBING A ‘BRUTAL TERRORIST ACT’
Law enforcement officers and emergency services personnel stand near the site of an explosion at a restaurant in central Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 1, 2026. (REUTERS)
«The other factor here is that Putin has done his best to preserve a sense of ‘normalcy’ in Moscow and St. Petersburg, cultivating a facade of stability that Ukraine has been able to exploit,» Episkopos added.
Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said an unidentified woman carried an improvised explosive device to the Balzi Rossi restaurant. The committee said the woman was stopped by security before the bomb was detonated near the restaurant’s entrance. The Russian Embassy in Rome on Monday said five people were killed and 19 were injured in the attack.
UKRAINE LAUNCHES WHAT APPEARS TO BE ONE OF ITS LARGEST DRONE ATTACKS AGAINST RUSSIA: REPORT
Police block an area near a deadly explosion at a restaurant in Moscow, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (Sergei Vedyashkin/Moscow News Agency via AP)
«This particular event did seem to have a substantial level of security, which is why the person carrying the explosive was reportedly stopped and questioned at the entrance,» Episkopos noted.
Russian investigators suggested the courier may not have known she was transporting explosives and said the device was detonated remotely.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin condemned the «brutal terrorist attack,» vowing that those responsible would be punished, according to Deutsche Welle.
‘A NEW KIND OF WAR’: INSIDE UKRAINE’S HIDDEN FACTORIES MASS-PRODUCING COMBAT DRONES
Russian President Vladimir Putin crosses himself during the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow on April 12, 2026. (Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP)
«The means by which this attack was executed — a remotely detonated explosive device delivered on-site by a civilian — are also consistent with other assassinations deep inside Russian territory previously attributed to Ukraine,» Episkopos said.
«These include those of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, pro-Kremlin blogger Vladlen Tatarsky and others,» he said.
Ukraine had not publicly commented on the restaurant bombing as of Monday afternoon, and no group had claimed responsibility.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has repeatedly accused Kyiv of targeting senior military officers, pro-war figures and Russian-installed officials.
MOSCOW, TALIBAN FORGE MILITARY ALLIANCE IN POWER GRAB AFTER US AFGHANISTAN EXIT: REPORTS
Smoke rises from a Russian tank destroyed by Ukrainian forces, on the side of a road in Lugansk region on February 26, 2022. (ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
Episkopos noted that Kyiv has increasingly used unconventional tactics to offset Russia’s superiority in conventional manpower and firepower.
«Ukraine has pioneered a new style of asymmetric warfare that plays to its strengths and Russia’s weaknesses — relatively porous borders and vast territory that’s difficult to monitor, let alone defend,» he said. «Ukraine’s interior is smaller and comparatively better controlled, and the intelligence it receives from Western partners plays a role here.»
NATO MEMBER SCRAMBLES FIGHTER JETS AS RUSSIAN ATTACK ON UKRAINE KILLS 8
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a press conference after meetings with the heads of the EU and Ireland, following a formal ceremony to mark the launch of Ireland’s eighth EU presidency, at Dublin Castle in Dublin on July 1, 2026. (Paul Faith / AFP via Getty Images)
Episkopos added: «This makes operations like this more difficult to pull off. Russia has generally relied on its advantage in raw firepower to conduct airstrikes, as opposed to covert assassinations, against high-value Ukrainian targets.»
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
russia, vladimir putin, volodymyr zelenskyy, bombings, assassinations murders, ukraine
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