Andrey Kozlov found himself idling away the hours in a dimly lit room in Gaza alongside two other hostages. Sometimes, he could hear one of his captors on the other side of the door typing away on a laptop. The man was a constant presence in the apartment, while other guards came and went. Mr. Kozlov, recounting his experience from a hotel room in a Tel Aviv suburb after his rescue, shared that the guards all went by the name Muhammad to conceal their identities. To differentiate between them, the hostages gave them nicknames like Big Muhammad and Little Muhammad. The main jailer, who had a rounded face, was nicknamed “Muhammad H’dudim,” or “Muhammad Chubby Cheeks” in Hebrew slang.
Mr. Kozlov, a 27-year-old Russian Israeli, provided a detailed account of his eight months in captivity alongside Almog Meir Jan, 22, and Shlomi Ziv, 41. He described being held in six different locations before finally being moved to the apartment in mid-December. In some places, they had only a pail for a toilet and were deprived of food, causing Mr. Kozlov to lose around 20 pounds.
The three hostages were eventually rescued from the apartment during an Israeli commando operation. The Israeli authorities later identified their main jailer as Abdallah Aljamal, a Hamas operative who also worked as a journalist. Mr. Kozlov has since identified Mr. Aljamal and several other captors from photographs posted online and on social media.
The ordeal began when the three men were kidnapped from the Nova music festival during a Hamas-led terrorist assault on southern Israel. They spent the last six months in Mr. Aljamal’s custody, hidden away in a residential building in Nuseirat. During the rescue operation, Mr. Aljamal, his wife, father, and sister were reportedly killed.
Mr. Kozlov shared details of their captivity, including being shackled at the wrists and ankles, moved to multiple locations, and subjected to physical and psychological abuse. Despite the harsh conditions, they were occasionally allowed to watch movies and play games. However, they were also told they were a problem for Israel and threatened with death if there was a rescue attempt.
Mr. Kozlov focused on survival by repeating mantras to himself and maintaining hope of reuniting with his family. The morning of the rescue brought an end to their months-long ordeal.