Captivity survivor Avinatan Or recently revealed new details about his attempt to escape Gaza, where he was held completely alone for over two years.

In a video posted to his social media account, Or said he spent months digging a tunnel more than ten meters long with his bare hands, as part of a plan he developed after a prolonged period of being held alone.

“I managed to plan and dig my escape tunnel over the course of months,” Or said. “I dug more than ten meters outward with my hands. Throughout that entire period, I never stopped thinking about all the efforts and sacrifices of so many Israelis working together to ensure our lives here.”

Throughout his captivity, Or said, he faced a daily struggle to “survive and maintain my composure,” while constantly searching for ways to influence his own fate.

“For more than two years, I was held captive alone. I never stopped thinking for a moment, and I never forgot that I was the only one responsible for my fate at any given moment,” he recounted.

After more than a year in captivity, he reached the decision not to sit and wait for a deal or to be rescued, but to begin taking action himself in an attempt to escape. From then on, he began planning and digging, a process that continued for months.

Or shared a lesson that has stayed with him after captivity: “Good comes when you fight for it, when you take one more step forward – even when darkness surrounds you from every direction.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)