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 held hostage 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.
He only heard about the fate of his daughter, Moran, who had survived October 7, once he was out of captivity.
“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.
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 said that Gadi had been moved between several apartments during his time held hostage, but that he hadn’t been held in the tunnels.
They also said that 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 amidst chaotic scenes in Gaza.
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”, and 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 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”.
Dalit added that Gadi 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, a peace activist, is a renowned agronomist and also an expert in potato farming. According to Channel 12, Gadi 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, 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 Missing Families Forum UK.
On October 7, 1,200 people were murdered in southern Israel when Hamas terrorists broke through the border with Gaza. Over 250 people, including the elderly, babies and children, were taken hostage.
