Freed Hostage Gadi Moses Describes Psychological Torture by Hamas ‘My World Collapsed’

In a deeply moving interview aired on Thursday, Gadi Moses, one of the oldest hostages freed from Hamas captivity, recounted the harrowing psychological and physical torture he endured during his 481 days in Gaza.

Moses, kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’s brutal October 7 invasion, shared how his captors employed cruel psychological manipulation throughout his captivity. “At some point, they gave me a page with pictures of all the hostages. I see Efrat, my partner, and they showed me on a computer that she was one of the captives,” he revealed. The terrorists falsely claimed that both his partner and daughter, Moran, were alive and held hostage, even going so far as to pretend to send birthday messages on their behalf.

It wasn’t until a brief moment when Moses was allowed to hear a radio broadcast that he learned the devastating truth his partner Efrat had been murdered. “Then my world collapsed,” he recalled. Confronting his captors, Moses realized they had lied about his daughter too, resigning himself to the belief that she had also been killed.

Moses described the violence he suffered, including attempts to force-feed him. “He punches me in the shoulder and says, ‘You will eat.’ I told him, ‘If you touch me again, I will beat you to death. I will not let him humiliate me.’”

He also recounted a chilling conversation in which a guard told him: “If your army comes to rescue you, we will shoot you first and only then defend ourselves.”

In June 2024, Moses was transferred to Al-Mawasi in Rafah as the IDF targeted top Hamas leaders. Remarkably, Moses endured alone until meeting fellow hostage Arbel Yehoud shortly before their release. Their reunion was described as a defining moment "a hug from a father and grandfather."

His release, however, was fraught with terror. As Hamas handed over Yehoud first, Moses feared the worst: "I thought they had handed her over to the masses." Only later did he learn that not only had she survived, but so had his daughter Moran.

Now 80, Moses remains determined to rebuild. "I understand very well the suffering and the torture that everyone who was there endured. But I believe there is a future. The rebuilding of Nir Oz must happen. There is no other option."

His testimony sheds light on the unimaginable cruelty inflicted by Hamas a U.S.-designated terrorist organization while also serving as a powerful reminder of the unbreakable spirit of Israel’s people.

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