80-year-old Gadi Mozes has been freed after 483 days in captivity after being captured by Hamas and has now vowed to return to Gaza to help teach Palestinians how to farm
An 80-year-old man held hostage by Hamas for 483 days has pledged to return to war-torn Gaza to teach Palestinians how to farm.
In an amazing gesture of goodwill Gadi Mozes said he wanted to help locals improve their agriculture techniques. He was only set free four days ago after being held in solitary confinement, Gadi had an emotional reunion with his family at the weekend.
Now he has told them he is happy to go back across the border into Gaza at some stage in the future to help as he is a renowned expert on potato farming. He also gave an insight into the kindness of one his guards who bought him a new pair of glasses so he could read.
A relative of Gadi, who asked not to be named, said: ‘Incredibly he has said he is willing to go back to Gaza to help teach Palestinians farming techniques. Gadi is an expert on agriculture on his kibbutz. But despite being held hostage for 470 days he is prepared to return to help them grow food.”
Gadi 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.
Despite his devastation Gadi said he will go back once peace has been established. The family member said he described how there were “some acts of decency” given to Gadi during his captivity.
He said: ‘Gadi’s glasses were broken during the kidnapping, one of his captors brought him a new pair after two months. They also brought him two books to read. One way Gadi said he stopped getting depressed was to make himself repeat: ‘I must live one day at a time and not think about when I may be released or killed.’
“He told us for the first 70 days of his captivity he was locked alone in a dark room. He said he was moved between several apartments, but unlike many of the other hostages, was not confined in tunnels.’
‘For the majority of the time Gadi tried to keep himself relatively fit, by counting the tiles on the floor, as he paced up and down a two square metre room. Sometimes, despite being close to starvation, he managed seven kilometres a day.’ Once every five days his captors gave him a bowl of lukewarm water.
He described how he always poured it over his head to create a makeshift shower. He decided he must not let himself go so insisted on trying to shave. Gadi’s son Yair vowed to grow a beard until his father was released. The day after his father was freed Gadi shaved his son’s huge grey beard off.
