Freed Hostage Rom Braslavski Issues Arabic Warning After IDF Eliminates Captor

JERUSALEM (VINnews)-Freed Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski released a video message in Arabic on Monday directed at remaining Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives, one day after the Israel Defense Forces announced it had killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander linked to his captivity.

In the short video, Braslavski states: “None of you will be left. Thank you to the IDF. Am Yisrael Chai.”

The statement followed the IDF’s announcement that an airstrike in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah over the weekend eliminated Mahmoud Fatair, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad Nukhba commander. The military said Fatair invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and took part in holding Braslavski while the hostage was in Islamic Jihad captivity.

According to the IDF, Fatair was also seen in November 2023 participating in the hostage handover ceremony of numerous captives, including Amit Shani, Ofir Engel, Moran Stela Yanai, Itay Regev, Liam Or-Nassar, Raz Ben Ami, Rantin Phaiboon, Gong Sae Lao, Seekena Jakkapan and Saegkaew Charoemchai.

The military said the strike, carried out amid the ceasefire, was justified because Fatair had been advancing attacks on Israeli troops and civilians. He was “eliminated to remove the threat,” the IDF stated.

Braslavski, then an off-duty soldier working security at the Nova music festival, was abducted on Oct. 7, 2023. He was held for 738 days, primarily by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, before his release in October 2025 among the final group of living hostages under a U.S.-mediated ceasefire agreement. He has previously described severe abuse, including repeated torture, during captivity.