CS Knowledge Base

On the morning of 7 October 2023, Braslavski was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival while on leave from the military.^[10][8][11] The massacre began at approximately 6:30 am, and Braslavski was abducted at around 3:00 pm. 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.^[1]

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.^[12][7]

At around 10:00 am, 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.^[13] The next day, his older brother Amit went to the festival site to search for any signs of him.^[7]

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.^[14] 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.^[15]

In April 2025, 558 days after his abduction, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a first video showing Braslavski alive in captivity.^[16] 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.^[17] 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."^[18]

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.^[19] He 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.^[1] 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.^[19] The footage drew condemnation from various government officials, including David Lammy and Kaja Kallas.^[20] 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.^[21] According to CNN, the video was probably released by Palestinian militants as a tactic to revive stalemated ceasefire negotiations.^[22]

Braslavski was held primarily in Deir al-Balah.^[5] After his release his mother told reporters that he 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.^[23] On 5 November 2025 after his release Braslavski described his treatment as a captive to Channel 13.^[24] In March 2025, the temporary ceasefire ended. Braslavski stated that his conditions worsened around that time because he did not convert to Islam: his captors blindfolded him, blocked his ears with stones, reduced his rations, and beat him multiple times per day.^[10] He also stated that they sexually assaulted him by removing his clothes and tying him up. He stated that: "The goal was to crush my dignity."^[24] He was the first released Israeli male hostage to report sexual abuse.^[24]

In May 2026, Braslavski recounted attacking one of his captors to Ynet. According to Braslavski, his captors treated him poorly because he was a soldier.^[5]

In April 2024, families of hostages held a weekly rally at Hostages Square where Braslavski's brother Ziv and other hostages' siblings called for their release.^[25] In July 2024, Braslavski's brother and cousin spoke to London supporters about Braslavski's captivity, asking for them to remember his name and pray for him.^[7]

In August 2025, US cousins of Braslavski began to petition President Donald Trump for Braslavski to be given US citizenship in hopes that it would improve his chances of release.^[26] At a rally attended by thousands of protesters in Hostages Square, Braslavski's father urged Netanyahu to end the war.^[22]

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 questioned if they cared that his son was still held hostage and possibly dying.^[27] Braslavski's father continued echoing concerns of hostages being abandoned by the government at a rally at Hostages Square with the father of hostage Nimrod Cohen, both blaming the government for not acting to have the hostages released but choosing to expand the war.^[28]

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.^[29] He and 19 others were the last living Israeli hostages released during the Gaza war.^[10]