In first public interview since release in 2023, former Israeli hostage Ron Krivoi speaks of horror of Hamas captivity in Gaza tunnels

Former Russian-Israeli hostage Ron Krivoi spoke publicly for the first time on Friday about his harrowing captivity in Hamas-controlled Gaza. Krivoi, who worked as a soundman at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7, 2023, was brutally kidnapped by Hamas terrorists who massacred hundreds of mostly young Israeli civilians who had gathered to enjoy music and dance that day.

“As a person, I’m a quiet man, I live my life. That’s why I didn’t give interviews, I just continued my life as it was before – that’s what I asked for, to return to my life,” Krivoi said in an interview with Israeli Channel 12 News. He recalled Gazan civilians attacking him and bringing him back to Hamas after having temporarily escaped from the terrorists in Gaza.

“When I was alone, no one saw me. Once someone did – it ended badly. The people who caught me beat me up. It wasn’t simple. I went through something there… When they caught me and brought me back, the people who beat me were ordinary Gazans who took out all their frustration on me,” he said.

Krivoi was released from captivity during the first hostage agreement in November 2023.

Following his return to Israel, his aunt, Yelena Magid, revealed that Krivoi had been hiding alone for four days in Gaza before he was caught by Hamas supporters.

“He managed to escape and hid for four days alone. He tried to reach the border. In the end, the Gazans caught him and returned him to the hands of the terrorists,” she said at the time.

Krivoi emphasized that Hamas' underground tunnels were an unimaginable, claustrophobic nightmare for the hostages.

“These aren’t the tunnels you see in pictures. We were in something really small, deep underground. There wasn’t even a floor – we were on sand, and the mattresses were all moldy. We were inside a very, very small cage. Honestly, about a meter and a half by a meter and a half, and we had to lie down and rest in it – you couldn’t stand. No height, no toilets, no food. We were five people, we ate one small dish with some canned food and a pita that we divided among us. I was there for 51 days and lost nine kilograms (20 pounds) of body weight,” Krivoi recalled.

“This is something that even if a person tries to imagine, they’ll never be able to truly understand what it’s like down there,” he stressed.

Krivoi said he spent a lot of time with fellow hostage Matan Angrest, who was “completely, completely terrified.” Angrest is an IDF soldier who was seriously injured and kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from Israeli territory close to the Gaza border on the morning of the Oct. 7 attacks.

“The interrogations he went through happened while still in Israeli territory – that’s where it started. They already connected him to a car battery on the way and tried to revive him. Using car batteries, they electrocuted him,” Krivoi revealed. “They weren’t able to interrogate him. He probably wasn’t even in a condition to speak because he was badly injured. His injuries were very severe.”

Krivoi believes his Russian citizenship played a central role in his release from captivity in the early stages of negotiations between Israel and the terror group.

“I know that if I didn’t have Russian citizenship, I could still be in that tunnel with Matan to this day. I’m here because of a miracle. It was Putin who brought me home. If not for him, I wouldn’t be here today,” Krivoi assessed. While he was born in Israel, his family emigrated from Russia to the Jewish state.

In early March, Hamas released a propaganda video featuring the Angrest.

Angrest's family responded to the video, stating that he is “undergoing hellish torment, torturous interrogations, and is being held in inhuman conditions.”