October 7 · Personal story
Bilal Alziadana
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Kibbutz Holit
Current outcome
Released alive · November 30, 2023
Released from captivity on 30 November 2023.
01
Life before
Bilal lived in Rahat with his Bedouin Alziadana family. About a year before 7 October, he began working with his father Yosef at Kibbutz Holit’s dairy barn. His older brother Hamza was married and had two children. Bilal loved animals and had a horse and a camel.
02
The abduction
Attackers took Bilal from Kibbutz Holit on 7 October with his father Yosef, brother Hamza and sister Aisha. In an interview after his release, Bilal said he told the captors they were Arabs; they replied that they would kidnap them anyway. The family and two Thai workers were led toward the kibbutz exit and taken on foot to the Gaza border.
03
Captivity
In an interview reported on 11 December 2023, Bilal said the four family members stayed together. He remembered bread, beans, tomatoes and falafel, and a mattress, pillow, blanket and Quran. He said he was afraid when he heard Israeli airstrikes and that the family prayed to be freed. Bilal also said he worried about those still held after his release.
04
Release and return
Bilal and Aisha were released on 30 November 2023 and taken to Soroka Medical Center. In his interview, Bilal said he and his sister were the only two released from their family at that point. He said he felt afraid for the relatives still in Gaza because he knew what they were going through.
05
After their return
Bilal and Aisha’s father Yosef was recovered from Rafah on 7 January 2025, and the IDF announced his death in captivity the next day. Hamza’s remains were recovered with his father; the IDF confirmed Hamza’s death after forensic identification on 10 January. Their mother Naima had described the siblings’ reunion as happy and painful while she still feared for Yosef and Hamza.