Freed hostage Gadi Mozes solved maths problems and walked 7km a day in his tiny room

One of the oldest hostages held in Gaza coped with his captivity by walking up to seven kilometres a day in his tiny room and solving maths problems in his head.

Gadi Mozes, who turned 80 while he was in captivity for 483 days, was abducted on October 7, 2023, from outside his home on Kibbutz Nir Oz. His long-term partner, Efrat Katz, 68, was murdered during the attack.

Gadi only learnt of her death while he was held hostage, his nephew, Shai, said in an interview with Israeli website Walla, which was later published in English in the Jerusalem Post.

“At some point, he realised he had to stop hoping for immediate rescue and focus on surviving each day. He trained himself to think differently, to keep going, and to avoid the crushing disappointment of not being freed the next morning,” said Shai.

He only heard about the fate of his daughter, Moran, who had survived October 7, once he was out of captivity.

Speaking at a London vigil for the released hostages and those still in captivity, Dalit Haim, a member of Lauderdale Road Synagogue, which had “adopted” Gadi, said: “For some 70 days of his captivity, Gadi was in complete isolation, locked alone in a dark room.”

Gadi Moses, reunited with his family (Photo: X)[Missing Credit]

She said that his family had reported that Gadi had been moved between several apartments during his time held hostage, but that he hadn’t been held in the tunnels.

According to Gadi’s relatives, he hadn’t been with any other hostages and the first Israeli he had met in over 15 months was hostage Arbel Yehoud, 29, when both of them were released on Thursday, surrounded by crowds, amidst chaotic scenes. 

Dalit said: “For much of his time in captivity, he was held in a room of two square metres, in which he regularly paced up and down, clocking in up to 7km a day, counting the tiles on the room floor and solving maths problems in his head to try to keep his mind sharp.”

According to his nephew, Gadi had also survived by “holding imaginary conversations with his loved ones”, but that while in captivity, he endured suffered food shortages and unsanitary conditions.

Dalit said that Gadi’s relatives had told Israeli media that on the few occasions he had been able to watch TV – something he had negotiated for with his captives - and saw the demonstrations for the hostages, it had “strengthened” him “to understand that the nation is fighting for [them] and [their] return home”.

Dailt added that Moses had described “the chaotic handover on Thursday as a moment of mortal fear and said that he worried that he and Arbel would be lynched by the mob around them”.

Gadi is a renowned agronomist and expert in potato farming. According to Channel 12, Gadi, a peace activist, who had campaigned for Palestinian rights, told his captors that when the war ended and there was peace, he hoped to come back to Gaza and teach Palestinians how to farm.

His nephew said that his uncle was determined to restore Kibbutz Nir Oz, which was decimated on October 7, 2023, by Hamas terrorists. “This kibbutz is his life’s work. He has been there since he was 20, built it with his own hands, and he cannot bear to see it in ruins.”

“He is already thinking about the next steps,” he added “But first, he needs to recover. Soon, he will return to the fight—not just for himself, but for every hostage still in Hamas captivity.”

The London vigil was organised by the Hostages and Missin Families Forum UK.