October 7 · Personal story
Ori Megidish
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Nahal Oz IDF base
Current outcome
Rescued alive · October 30, 2023
Israeli forces rescued Ori during a ground operation; she was brought to Israel and reunited with family.
01
A lookout at Nahal Oz
Ori Megidish served as an IDF lookout at Nahal Oz. Her hometown was Kiryat Gat. A notebook recovered from the base contained operational notes, messages from her unit and photographs. When she showed it to President Isaac Herzog after her rescue, he read a note describing her as funny, supportive, loving, calm and responsible, someone who gave her all and helped the others.
02
Taken from the shelter
On October 7, Ori sheltered with other soldiers at Nahal Oz. She recalled attackers throwing a grenade into the shelter and a soldier in pajamas firing back from the entrance. Channel 12 identified that soldier as Captain Eden Nimri, who was killed in the fighting. Ori remembered the attackers entering and smiling at the soldiers. One forced her into a vehicle; her friend Noa Marciano was in the back, and Naama Levy was also taken in the same car. In Gaza, Ori and Naama were separated from Noa.
03
Apartments, hospital, and fear
Ori was held in an apartment under guard. She described one guard touching intimate parts of her body whenever he passed. On her third Saturday in Gaza, an airstrike collapsed the apartment roof and started a fire; a guard was killed, and Ori suffered a fractured skull. A guard took her to a hospital as she began losing her balance. She said staff stitched her wounds without anesthetic and told her not to scream. After one night, captors moved her to another apartment and warned that they would kill her if Israeli soldiers tried to rescue her. She said fear of dying never left her during the 23 days before rescue.
04
Rescue and reunion
Israeli forces rescued Ori during a ground operation on October 30, 2023. She was brought to Israel for medical care and reunited with her family. In the first moments after the rescue, a Shin Bet operative reassured her that the team had got her out and that her parents were waiting. Ori became the first hostage rescued alive from Gaza during the war.
05
Home, service, and memory
Four months after her rescue, Ori chose to re-enlist and joined the Intelligence Corps. In December 2024, her mother described Ori as rebuilding her life. Ori spoke publicly about captivity in a Channel 12 interview broadcast in May 2025.