In a powerful testament to human resilience, Shlomi Ziv and Almog Meir Jan, two of the hostages rescued from Gaza during the daring Operation Arnon, have spoken out for the first time about their 246-day ordeal in captivity. Their harrowing account is part of a national documentation project spearheaded by the Government Press Office, aimed at preserving the experiences of returned hostages and their families for future generations.
Shlomi Ziv faces the cameras for the first time since his dramatic rescue from Gaza during Operation Arnon, which also freed fellow survivors Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Noa Argamani.
Ziv has agreed to recount the terrifying details of his 246-day captivity at the hands of Hamas as part of a national documentation project for returned hostages and their families, led by the Government Press Office. "If it means the world will learn the truth about what they did to us, what we endured in captivity – I'm on board," Meir Jan affirmed.
The primary captor overseeing Ziv, Meir Jan, and Kozlov employed what they describe as "creative" punishments. "Let's just say he had an issue with us moving around," Almog recalled. "If he caught one of us standing, he'd suddenly declare: 'Oh, you stood up? Fine. Now I want you sitting for a week. If you need the bathroom – crawl. I don't want to see you on your feet.'" Shlomi added: "But we'd wear him down after about four days. We did our best to comply. We'd win him over by playing the role of obedient children." Almog adds: "We were itching to retaliate, but we suppressed it, detaching ourselves emotionally."
"This is the Yad Vashem of October 7," explained Nitzan Chen, director of the GPO. These testimonies will be preserved for posterity, including in the State Archives.
As part of this ongoing project, which we've been closely following in recent weeks, 25 former hostages of various ages have shared their stories since returning, along with 21 family members of those still in captivity. As they meticulously recount every detail, listeners are momentarily transported into their captivity, feeling a fleeting second of blood-curdling terror, tasting the grit of sand, inhaling the pervasive dust and mold, and sensing the suffocating horror.
Resilience in captivity
We've also witnessed the extraordinary resilience displayed by the hostages during and after their ordeal, as well as the coping mechanisms and shared experiences among the survivors. Many described the terror of nearby IDF strikes and the constant anxiety about their captors' unpredictable reactions to the intensified fighting as a recurring theme in numerous testimonies.
Several returned hostages have shared the emotional burden they've carried since their release, consumed by thoughts of those left behind. "For those who've returned, the most crucial mission now is saving lives. They carry the weight of responsibility for those they had to leave behind," Susie Ozsinay Aranya, one of three documenters heading the project on behalf of GPO explained.
The full interview will be published in the coming days.
