Roni was kidnapped to Gaza, escaped an IDF airstrike, then recaptured by Hamas
His aunt spoke about his experiences during Hamas captivity
Yelena Magid, the aunt of Roni Krivoi who was freed from Hamas captivity yesterday, told Keren Neubach on Kan Reshet Bet Radio about the long days her nephew spent in captivity on Monday morning.
“He said he was captured by terrorists who held him inside a building that collapsed from the bombs,” she said.
“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.”
Roni was part of the production team at the nature rave party in Kibbutz Re’im. On the morning of the massacre, he tried to escape together with his friend.
“At some point, Roni decided to stop running. He hid in the morning and put bushes on himself,” said his aunt.
“His friend was in touch with him until 10:30, when Ronnie told him that he heard the voices of terrorists very close. Ten minutes later the friend called again and they answered him in Arabic; he started shouting ‘Roni, Roni,’ they laughed and hung up.”
For a week, Roni’s family members did not know what happened to him, until they received a message from the IDF that there was a high probability that he had been kidnapped.
Roni has dual citizenship – Israeli and Russian, and his release was not achieved as part of the deal for the release of the hostages, but as part of an agreement between Hamas and Russia.
“The separation they did yesterday of 13 hostages plus one is inappropriate,” claims his aunt.
“Roni was born in Israel and grew up here, his mother tongue is Hebrew. When he was a child, his parents applied for Russian citizenship for him but regardless he is an Israeli citizen. This hurts us as citizens of Israel. We have been here for more than 30 years.”
Regarding Roni’s condition after his release from captivity, Yelena said: “I asked him if he has nightmares, and he said 'yes' but that’s good because it means he’s coping. He has some wounds on his head because he was hit by a stone during the collapse of the building but he is fine, he is being checked.”
“Roni is always laughing and smiling. What gave us hope from Day 1 is that we know this boy, and a boy who is always smiling can manage no matter what the conditions are.”
Kan.org.il is the Hebrew news website of the The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation
