Avinatan Or, who survived 738 days as a hostage of Hamas in Gaza, has revealed that even while enduring captivity himself, he opposed an agreement to secure his freedom if the price would encourage Hamas to carry out future kidnappings, saying he believed Israel had to emerge from the war victorious.

In his first extensive television interview since returning home, Or spoke with Ilana Dayan on Keshet 12’s “Uvda” about his more than two years in Hamas captivity, the calculations he made about his own possible release, his relationship with his parents, and a deeply personal prayer he made after 70 days as a hostage.

Or was abducted from the Nova music festival near Re’im during the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, together with his partner, Noa Argamani. Footage of their abduction became one of the most recognizable images of the attack, showing Argamani being taken away on a motorcycle while reaching toward Or as terrorists marched him away.

Argamani was dramatically rescued by Israeli forces from Nuseirat in June 2024, together with Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv. Or remained in Gaza for another 16 months before finally being released on October 13, 2025, after 738 days in captivity.

During his captivity, Or said, he was able at times to see television coverage from Israel, including demonstrations demanding an agreement to bring the hostages home. Despite knowing that such an agreement could mean his own freedom, he said he was convinced that his parents were not participating in those protests.

“The debate was over matters of life and death, whether you save lives now or protect lives in the future,” he explained. “It was clear to me that if we made a deal then, I would be released, but later, someone else would be sitting in my place.”

Or said his position was not an abstract view developed after his return to Israel. It was what he believed while he himself remained in Hamas hands and had no assurance that he would survive long enough to come home.

“It was clear to me that we shouldn’t make a deal at any cost. Israel needed to emerge victorious from this war,” he said.

Or described conveying essentially the same message directly to one of the terrorists guarding him. Rather than allowing his captors to believe that the passage of time would eventually break him or force Israel to meet their demands, he told the terrorist that he was prepared for the possibility of remaining there for years.

“I told my captor: I’ll stay here for a day, two days, a year, two years, even ten years. Eventually, you’ll understand that I’m not worth holding, and that will be the victory.”

Or’s ordeal lasted more than two years. He was held largely alone, and in portions of his captivity was confined underground in darkness. In another portion of the interview, he revealed that he had attempted to devise a way to escape, drawing on lessons he remembered from his military service about the impossibility of creating a completely impenetrable defensive system.

“In the army they always told us, there’s no such thing as a 100% perfect defense, there will always be some weak point,” he explained.

While confined in an underground cell, Or felt his way around his surroundings and discovered a section constructed with sandbags. He could feel air moving through the area, leading him to conclude that there might be a route toward the outside.

“That doesn’t happen in a tunnel,” Or said.

His captivity also included severe physical deprivation. By the time he returned to Israel, Or appeared gaunt after spending more than two years cut off from his family and Argamani, who had spent much of that period publicly campaigning for his return after her own rescue.

One of the most personal moments Or described involved neither his captors nor the political argument surrounding a hostage agreement, but a conversation he said he had with God on his 70th day in Gaza.

“On the 70th day, I spoke to God and said: ‘Listen, I know I haven’t spoken to You in seven years, and it’s hypocritical of me to ask You for something now, especially when there’s a good chance I’ll forget You once I get out. So I’ll speak to You frankly: the Torah commands us to honor our parents, and I tried to do that even before October 7. Now it’s Your turn to fulfill the part that promises long life in the land.’”

Or’s comments about the hostage negotiations also shed new light on the approach taken publicly by his parents, Yaron and Ditza Or, during the long campaign to bring him home. Unlike some hostage families who became prominent participants in demonstrations demanding an immediate deal, his family generally advocated continued pressure on Hamas and resisted calls for Israel to accept an agreement at any price.

When Or finally returned to Israel in October 2025, one of his first reunions was with his parents. He said their initial words to him reflected the burden they had carried while making decisions about how best to fight for their son without knowing what he himself wanted them to do.

“When they saw me, they said, ‘We hope you’re not angry with us.’ I answered them, ‘I’m not angry with you. I’m proud of you.’ My parents fought for me like crazy.”

Or was also reunited with Argamani after more than two years apart. The couple had been violently separated during their abduction on October 7 and followed radically different paths through captivity: Argamani was held with other hostages before being rescued after approximately eight months, while Or remained in Hamas captivity until the hostage agreement of October 2025.

{Matzav.com}