"They played Al Jazeera for us in captivity, the Chief of Staff said: 'The hostages will stay there for years'"
Maxim Herkin, a hostage survivor who endured 738 days in Hamas captivity, recounts in an interview that he watched Al Jazeera while in chains and heard the IDF Chief of Staff say the hostages' fate was to remain for years. Herkin describes his feelings before being abducted from the Nova festival and the moment he realized war had begun.
Maxim Herkin, a reserve officer who survived 738 days in Hamas captivity after being abducted from the Nova festival on October 7, 2023, and released in October 2025, told a newspaper about his time in captivity. Herkin described how he watched Al Jazeera while chained, and heard the Chief of Staff say that "the fate of all the hostages is to remain for long years in Hamas captivity." According to him, the sentence he heard was partial, but it was the piece of information that accompanied him for two years. Herkin also shared his feelings before the abduction: seven days earlier he had visited Russia, and on October 6 he had an inner feeling not to go to the party, but a friend convinced him. He described the party as well-organized with 3,000 smiling people, and the moment at 6:29 AM when a rain of missiles began, and he immediately understood that war had started, not an operation or escalation.