EXCLUSIVE - 'I was their trophy': Man, 19, held hostage in Gaza after being captured at Nova music festival tells of harrowing ordeal at hands of Hamas terrorists - including operation by 'scared' doctor performed without anaesthetic
Itay Regev, 19, was kidnapped by Hamas alongside his sister Maya Regev, 21
By Sabrina Miller and Emily Jane Davies
Daily Mail
Mar 13, 2024
Israeli Itay Regev pictured in London, where he described his ordeal at the hands of Hamas
A 19-year-old former Israeli hostage - who was operated on by a Gazan doctor without anaesthetic - has urged the world not to forget about the brutality of the October 7 terror attacks.
Itay Regev - who was kidnapped from a peace music festival alongside his sister Maya Regev, 21, and their 21-year-old friend Omer Shem Tov - blasted the world for not doing more to rescue the remaining hostages.
On October 7, Itay, Maya and Omer were chased by nine terrorists who shot at them relentlessly while they were fleeing the Nova music festival.
After being shot in both his legs he was tied up, loaded onto a pickup truck and paraded around the Gaza strip while Gazans laughed and cheered at him.
He was then smuggled through the underground Hamas terror tunnels and taken into a hospital where he was operated on by a 'sweaty and scared' doctor without anaesthesia.
After being shot in both his legs he was tied up, loaded onto a pickup truck and paraded around the Gaza strip while Gazans laughed and cheered at him
He was then smuggled through the underground Hamas terror tunnels and taken into a hospital where he was operated on by a 'sweaty and scared' doctor without anaesthesia
After the operation terrorists disguised Itay as a corpse and later in a burqa before transporting him to a safe house.
Speaking about his experiences as a hostage he said: 'Inside Gaza I was kept in a locked room and I couldn't see the sky.
'I was given cans with food and every so often some pita to eat.
'My captures would torture me by telling me that other hostages had been killed in IDF airstrikes and that the Israeli Government didn't care about me.
'And everyday and in every moment I would think about my family and my parents.'
Itay - who was held prisoner inside three different houses in Gaza until he was eventually released after 54 days - said he was filled with hatred towards Hamas and those that were keeping him captive.
He said: 'One family that kept me captive would let their children come and look at me and point at my wounds.
'I felt like I was their trophy and like no one in Gaza cared about me.
'No one that I met is innocent.'
Speaking to the BBC, he said he had come to terms with the fact he could be killed when he was a captive.
Both he and his sister were shot in their legs when they were taken hostage. He was operated upon by an 'anxious doctor' without any anaesthetic or painkillers.
He told the BBC he was ordered to be quiet or they would 'kill me', all the while suffering 'more abuse, slaps to the face, spitting'.
Itay was separated from his sister, who also went through surgery. Her 'dangling foot was re-attached - but sideways. She was unable to walk when she was released and is currently receiving extensive rehabilitation on her leg.
Maya and Itay Regev pictured arriving at their family home in the city of Herzliya near Tel Aviv, on December 4, 2023, after their release from captivity by Hamas in the Gaza Strip
Former hostage Itay Regev pictured attending a protest by supporters and families of Israeli hostage sheld in Gaza since October 7, gathered around a symbolic Shabbat dinner table
An image grab from a handout video released by the Hamas Media Office shows a Hamas fighter and a Red Cross medic accompanying Maya as she was released in November
Their father Ilan Regev previously shared a chilling phone call he retrieved from Maya when she and her brother were being kidnapped.
In an interview with CNN he played the heartbreaking call in which she says: 'Dad, they shot me, they shot me!' Maya said in a call to her father on Oct. 7 amid the gunfire. 'He is killing us, Dad, he is killing us.'
Ilan could be heard telling Maya to send her location and find a place to hide and said 'I'm coming.'
He jumped in his car from his home in Herzliya, near Tel Aviv, and sped south to the festival site, where he was barred from entering.
In the interview Ilan can be seen breaking down as he becomes overwhelmed with emotion listening to his daughter's gut-wrenching cries and pleas once again.
Hamas militants killed an estimated 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 others in the October 7 raid that triggered the war.
On February 16, Hamas claimed that 'many' Israeli hostages have died in four months of bloody warfare as the conflict in the southern Levant shows no signs of ending.
Abu Obeida, the spokesperson of the group's armed wing, said in an audio message that the remaining hostages are living in extremely difficult conditions as Israeli forces continue devastating attacks on the Gaza Strip.
It comes as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to push on with a 'powerful' operation in the southern city of Rafah to achieve 'complete victory' over Hamas.
Both Itay and his sister Maya (pictured) were shot in their legs when they were taken hostage
Their father Ilan Regev previously shared a chilling phone call he retrieved from Maya when she and her brother were being kidnapped
Despite overtures to a peace deal in recent weeks, Netanyahu roundly rejected Hamas' new terms for a ceasefire last week and today brushed off international pressure to help create an independent Palestinian state.
But concern mounts for the welfare of some 1.4mn Palestinians currently sheltering in Gaza's southernmost city as Israeli troops prepare to sweep through the city ostensibly towards the objectives of routing Hamas and returning hostages taken into Gaza on October 7.
The relentless conflict in Gaza has seen critics and the families of hostages from Israel turn out to pressure the Israeli government into agree terms for their release.
Roughly 130 hostages are still believed to be in Gaza after Hamas's October 7 attack.
While a minority of voters in Israel believe the IDF is using too much force in Gaza, the stories of dire conditions shared by Israeli hostages returning from captivity in the November ceasefire has given force to the movement.
Some returning said Israel's siege had made conditions worse for hostages, suggesting food and water supplies were slashed by a siege of Gaza City in the first few days of the conflict.
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