Braslavski worked as a security guard at the Nova music festival,[2] where he rescued attendees and assisted the wounded before being taken captive by Hamas militants.[3]
Early life
Rom Braslavski is a German-Israeli citizen[4] and the middle child of Tami and Ofir Braslavski[5][6], with two brothers, Amit and Ziv.[7] His parents are divorced, and Braslavski and his elder brother Amit reportedly began working at the age of 14 to help support the family financially.[8][9] He is a resident of Pisgat Ze’ev[10], an Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem.
On the morning of 7 October 2023, Braslavski was on duty as a security guard at the Nova music festival near Re’im. The massacre began at approximately 6:30am, and Braslavski was abducted at around 3:00pm. According to testimony from a survivor who was with him when the attack began, they and others gathered to throw stones in an attempt to repel the attackers, which temporarily forced them to retreat before a grenade exploded and Braslavski disappeared from the survivor’s sight.[4]
Additional survivor accounts state that Braslavski assisted in evacuating wounded attendees and collected the bodies of victims to prevent their abduction to Gaza. Witnesses described his conduct during the attack as calm and courageous under fire.[11][9]
At around 10:00am, during the attack, Braslavski reportedly managed to contact his mother by phone, telling her that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had taken control of the situation, that he was in a safe place, and that he expected to be evacuated within an hour.[12] The next day, his older brother Amit went to the festival site to search for any signs of him.[9]
Captivity
The first sign of life from Braslavski reached his family through Sasha Trufanov, another hostage abducted from his home in Nir Oz on 7 October. Trufanov was released in February 2025 as part of a Hamas–Israel prisoner exchange deal after 498 days in captivity.[13] In early March 2025, he met with Braslavski's family and told them that they had been held together for part of their imprisonment, saying that Braslavski had regained strength and morale during that period.[14]
In April 2025, 558 days after his abduction, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a first video showing Braslavski alive in captivity.[15] Three months later, in mid-July 2025, the organization claimed that it had lost contact with the cell that had abducted him and that his whereabouts were unknown.[16] His family later stated: "No one knows where Rom is– neither the IDF nor Islamic Jihad. The only thing we knew was that he was being held alone."[citation needed]
On 31 July 2025, the Islamic Jihad published another video showing Braslavski in visibly deteriorated health, appearing extremely weak and emaciated, reporting severe hunger and thirst, and documenting his experiences about going days without food or surviving on lentils or a few falafel balls per day.[17] Medical experts, including Professor Yuval Heled, estimated that Braslavski had lost 33–50% of his body weight and warned of immediate life-threatening conditions due to severe malnutrition, dehydration, and damage to vital organs.[17] Braslavski stated that he spent most of his days laying on a mattress and the guards became more brutal in treatment as the humanitarian situation in Gaza became worse.[4]
After his release his mother Tami, told reporters that Braslavski was offered extra food to attempt to persuade him to convert to Islam, she also stated that he was beaten with a whip and other objects between April and July.[18] On 5 November, 2025 after his release Braslavski described the treatment as a captive to CNN, reporting he had experienced torture and sexual abuse as well as the extortion and psychological abuse of his family. In the interview he claimed he was stripped of all of his clothing and tied up naked as an act of sexual violence to crush his dignity.[19]
Efforts to release
In April 2024 ahead of the Passover festival families of hostages held a weekly rally at Hostages Square where Braslavski's brother Ziv spoke along with other hostages younger siblings to call for their release.[20] In July 2024, Braslavski's brother and cousin spoke to London supports about Braslavski, his current situation and captivity, while asking for them to remember his name and pray for him.[9]
The July 2025 footage drew international attention and condemnation.[21] Following its release, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Braslavski's family, expressing deep shock and pledging that the state would do everything possible to bring him home.[22] In August 2025, US cousins of Braslavski began to petition President Donald Trump for Braslavski to be given US citizenship after the July 2025 video was published, with the family hoping that he could then be treated like other hostage Edan Alexander who was released in May 2025.[23]
While speaking at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee with other hostage family members in September 2025, Braslavski's father grew irate and yelled at the members stating instead of having a toast on Rosh Hashanah, you will be drinking the blood of the hostages.....You will drink their blood because they are dead." He followed up asking them if they care that his son was still held hostage and possibly dying.[24] Braslavski's father continued echoing concerns of hostages being abandoned by the government at a rally at Hostages Square with the father of fellow hostage Nimrod Cohen, both blaming the government for not acting to have the hostages released but choosing to expand the war.[25]
Release
On 13 October 2025, after 737 days in captivity, Braslavski was released from the Gaza Strip as part of the Gaza peace plan mediated by the United States.[26] His release was announced by the Israeli Prime Minister's Office and confirmed by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Braslavski was immediately transferred to Israel for medical evaluation and rehabilitation. His family described his condition as "severely weakened but conscious," and images from his return sparked nationwide relief and celebrations.[27]
Post release activities
In early November 2025, Braslavski spoke to a crowd gathered at Hostages Square thanking them for their support while he was held captive. He praised their efforts, highlighted Israeli hostages held prior to the war such as Avera Mengistu and Hadar Goldin and their families and promised to keep fighting to have all hostages released.[28]
About a month after his release Braslavski lashed out on social media stating that he experiences frequent panic attacks as a result of his captivity and feels ignored by Israeli government officials, such as Prime Minister Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. In the post he alleged that the government was dodging his outreach and received NIS 60,000 ($18,600 USD) compensation which he felt was "simply an embarrassment" as the national salary is NIS 14,800 ($4,595 USD) per month. Braslavski also praised fundraising done for captives and other grassroot operations in his post.[29][30]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
