Ofir Braslavski spoke to Ynetnews after the family released an edited video clip published by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization. The group claimed the footage was filmed about a week and a half before contact was lost with Braslavski and his captors. The video shows the young Israeli in visible physical and emotional distress.
“It’s incredibly difficult to make decisions like this. You can never know if it will help him or harm him,” the elder Braslavski said of the family’s choice to release the video. “These are decisions we make as a family.”
In the clip, Rom Braslavski says he has been held in Gaza for two years and describes deteriorating health and extreme hunger. “I’m suffering so much—my foot looks terrible. Yesterday I barely had a plate of rice. I can’t breathe, I can’t live,” he says. “Three falafel balls is what I ate today.”
The family said they had refrained from sharing the footage earlier due to concerns about his appearance. “Rom is a kid who doesn’t cry,” said his cousin, Adam Hajaj, during an emotional appearance before a Knesset committee. “We didn’t release the video until yesterday because his mother said, ‘I don’t want people to see him crying. If Rom is crying, he’s broken.’”
Hajaj described Braslavski’s actions during the Oct. 7 Hamas-led massacre at the Nova music festival, where he was working as a security guard. “He had many chances to run, but he didn’t think about himself. He rescued bodies,” Hajaj said. One survivor, he added, had been shot three times and believed she was going to die before Rom promised not to leave her and ultimately saved her.
Speaking to lawmakers, Hajaj urged them to consider the humanity of the hostages. “Even in the video, he’s always thinking about others. He’s seconds from death, and he’s still thinking about others,” he said.
Ofir Braslavski criticized the Israeli government’s handling of the hostage crisis and said he was frustrated by the lack of updates since the video’s release. “No one has spoken to us since they told us he disappeared with his captors. I lost my mind. We were in hell and now we’re in a deeper hell,” he said.
He also condemned what he described as a muted international response to videos released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. “I don’t understand how they can sit quietly. Anyone who understands the situation knows we’re talking about a matter of days—Rom is dying, dying in pain.”
After receiving the video, Braslavski said he spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, describing the conversation as difficult. “He said they’ll do everything. He didn’t have much else to say,” Braslavski said. “We need more information. We need to be met with more often. They’re leaving us in the dark.”
He expressed concern over the Israeli leadership’s reported shift from negotiations toward a potential military resolution. “I told the prime minister—it’s all nonsense. It’s not about Hamas or anyone else—it’s us. We’ve been in Gaza for two years and it hasn’t helped. From the beginning, Hamas said it would release the hostages only when the war ends. I think that’s what needs to happen—now.”
He praised IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir for being “the only one with the courage” to speak honestly. “He says it plainly: the price of expanding the war is the lives of the hostages,” he said.
