Palestinian Islamic Jihad released on Wednesday the first video showing proof of life of Rom Braslavski, a 21-year-old Israeli hostage abducted during the October 7 attack.
The terrorist group posted a brief excerpt from the video beforehand, marking the first visual confirmation that Braslavski is alive.
Rom Braslavski appears in a Palestinian Islamic Jihad propaganda clip
Braslavski's family approved the release of a short clip from the full video, in which he cries out: “All day I’m just itching. All day I’m in pain. I don’t know what this illness is. Enough, enough. Please, Mr. Prime Minister. Please get me out of here. Trump — where are you? Where are your promises? Didn’t you say you’d free everyone in a deal?”
Braslavski, a Jerusalem resident, was working security at the Nova music festival in southern Israel when he was kidnapped. His family has received numerous reports of his bravery that day, describing how he helped others escape the attackers.
His brother, Amit, posted on an Instagram account dedicated to advocating for Rom’s release after the video segment aired. “Rom, my dear little brother, we didn’t recognize you. It looks like you’ve aged years, but we can still see your goodness and the Rom we’ve missed so much,” he wrote. “This is the first message we’ve received from you. We knew you were sick and unwell and needed your medicine. I hope this video shakes the people who need to be shaken. We will fight for you until the last drop of blood and do everything to bring you back.”
Amit criticized the government’s handling of the hostage crisis, saying, “No one from the government has reached out to the family — it’s insulting, and we’re fed up with being abandoned. Not even a phone call to check on us. People should understand — we are being abandoned every single day by a disgraceful and appalling government. Now that we’ve seen Rom, we have the strength to fight his fight to the end. Rom, we love you and won’t give up.”
His father, Ofir, said Rom was abducted while rescuing people from the massacre. “He showed courage and heroism beyond imagination. He saved lives while risking his own. Now it’s our turn to save him. How is it possible that someone who sacrificed himself for others is not considered a humanitarian case?”
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Sasha Troufanov, a former hostage released after 498 days in Hamas captivity, said on day 517 of the war that he briefly encountered Braslavski in Gaza. “Stay strong and don't give up,” Troufanov said in a message to Rom. “I hope my voice brings you light and hope in the dark place where you are. I want you to know that I, your friends, your family, and all of Israel are praying for you and doing everything to secure your release.”
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Former hostage Sasha Troufanov in a message to Braslavski
(Photo: Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
He also addressed Rom in Arabic: “I hope this message reaches you. Stay strong and don’t give up. We are with you and praying for you. The redemption of captives is a supreme value in Judaism — please, do not leave them behind. Do everything possible to bring them home safely and as quickly as possible."
Rom’s mother, Tami, spoke in a television interview last month, saying, “We heard that they might have a small radio or sometimes get to watch TV, so we decided to go public. We want to tell his story and show him that we’re fighting for him. That we miss him like air to breathe, and he is loved as much as anyone else.”
She continued, “Even if people didn’t see us on TV or see his pictures, we are fighting, we fought and we will fight until the moment we see him home. I believe with all my heart that he knows. But to hear a beloved voice or see someone you haven’t seen in a long time gives you hope and the will to live. It makes you want to say, ‘People are fighting for me, they’re not giving up.’ If there’s even a one-in-a-million chance that he hears, I want him to know the truth — he’s never forgotten. There’s not a second in the day that Rom isn’t with me.”