When the Gaza sunshine was at its hottest, Andrey Kozlov said the Hamas fighters would cover him with blankets, leaving him to stew in his sweat. When he asked about his family, they would say they had forgotten him. When they pulled the blindfold from his eyes, they said they would kill him and film his murder.
The 27-year-old said he suffered intense psychological – and some physical – abuse at the hands of Hamas. He cannot bring himself to describe all that happened to him and the two other hostages he was kept with during his eight months of captivity in Gaza.
After being snatched from the Nova music festival on October 7, Kozlov, a Russian-Israeli citizen, said he was tied up for “three days with rope, then until the middle of December with chains.” During these months he was subjected to “creative” forms of punishment: One guard “told us a lot that Israel wants to kill us” and that they were a problem from which Israel was trying to rid itself.
When the Gaza sunshine was at its hottest, Andrey Kozlov said the Hamas fighters would cover him with blankets, leaving him to stew in his sweat.／Wikimedia Commons
Kozlov strove not to believe the lies, he said, but the result was that, when Israeli soldiers last month burst into the building in which he was being held, he thought they had been sent to kill him.
Instead, it was a stunning rescue operation that brought him and the two others home – as well as Noa Argamani, who was held in a nearby building. But it left in its wake a trail of destruction: Gaza authorities say at least 274 Palestinians were killed in the raid and the ensuing firefight with Hamas militants.
In an interview with CNN, Kozlov detailed his months of captivity in Gaza, the psychological torture he weathered, the threats he faced, and his desire for Israel and Hamas to strike a deal to release the remaining hostages.
Optimism about a ceasefire-for-hostages deal has waned this week, however, as Hamas warned that Israeli actions in Gaza could jeopardize the talks. Last week, a US official told CNN that a framework agreement is “in place” and an Israeli official said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had authorized his negotiators to enter into detailed negotiations, signaling a potential breakthrough.
Talks resumed in the Qatari capital Doha last Friday. Over the weekend, Hamas agreed to compromise on a major sticking point for Israel – that Netanyahu’s government commits to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza before signing an agreement. But a statement from Netanyahu’s office on Sunday cast doubt on the deal, laying out several “principles” Israel is not prepared to abandon, including resumed fighting in Gaza “until all objectives of the war have been achieved.”
For Kozlov, the days he was captured – and rescued – have become landmarks in his life. October 7 became his second “birthday;” June 8, his third. He wants the 120 remaining hostages to be able to mark their own dates.
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the date of Kozlov’s third “birthday,” when he was rescued on June 8.
