Family of Russian-Israeli Hostage: He Escaped Hamas, Was Recaptured by Palestinian Civilians

The aunt of Roni Krivoi, 25, a Russian-Israeli who was one of the hostages released Sunday by Hamas terrorists, told an Israeli radio station Monday that he had escaped and hidden for four days in Gaza before being caught again by Palestinian civilians.

Elena Magid told Kan radio that Krivoi had been working at the Supernova music festival, where Hamas murdered 260 innocent people. He hid in a pit to save himself, but was found and taken to Gaza. His family did not know his whereabouts for a week.

She said that he had been captured, and held in a building that collapsed due to explosions in Israeli bombings. He succeeded in escaping, and after four days of hiding alone, was caught by “Gazans” who “returned him to the hands of the terrorists.”

The role of Palestinian civilians in supporting Hamas terrorists has been in the spotlight. Many civilians participated in looting and atrocities during the October 7 attack, and many were shown celebrating the murder and the kidnappings in Gaza.

Krivoi’s release was reportedly a gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia has worked closely with Iran in the Ukraine war and is suspected of helping Hamas indirectly in the October 7 attack, specifically in its use of drones to drop explosive charges.

Magid said that Krivoi only held Israeli citizenship and that the family had been in the country for 30 years. She complained that the media had portrayed the family as Russian, simply because his parents had retained their Russian citizenship to maintain contact with relatives in St. Petersburg. She said that the family had no special connection to Russia or to Vladimir Putin.

Krivoi is the only adult male hostage to have been released thus far; all other Israeli hostages freed have been women and children.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.