October 7 · Personal story
Qaid Farhan Al-Qadi
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Magen packing house near the Gaza border
Current outcome
Rescued alive · August 27, 2024
Rescued from southern Gaza and taken to Soroka Medical Center.
01
Family, village, and work
Qaid Farhan Al-Qadi lived in the Al Qasoum area near Rahat and worked as a security guard at a packing house near the Gaza border. He was a father of 11 and had two wives. After his rescue, he described close friendships with people from neighboring communities and said his eldest son had worked alongside the son of a friend from Moshav Patish. Family and the ties between Arab and Jewish neighbors remained central to how he spoke about his life.
02
Wounded and taken from work
On October 7, Farhan heard the sirens during his guard shift at the Magen packing house in Moshav Yesha and took shelter, expecting the alarm to pass. He later said fighters shot him in the leg, tied him, and took him away. His family spent months waiting for news. Farhan was taken wounded from work near the Gaza border, leaving his two wives and 11 children waiting for news.
03
A room shared with Aryeh
Farhan later described spending about a month and a half in a room with Aryeh Zalmanovich, an 86-year-old hostage from Nir Oz. Zalmanovich told him about his home and the kibbutz; they planned that Farhan would visit after release. Farhan recalled that Zalmanovich worried his belongings had burned and said the two had become like family. When Zalmanovich died beside him, Farhan remembered their conversations rather than breaking down: “Instead of tears, I had his stories.” Afterward, he said, hope for a possible deal helped him endure the long days. He also worried about his own family and about other hostages.
04
A room at Soroka
On August 27, 2024, Israeli forces rescued Farhan from southern Gaza, ending 326 days of captivity. He later recalled the soldiers giving him sunglasses, water and hugs. When he first met them, he asked them to check whether other Israelis were nearby. They offered him a call to his family, but he waited until he was on his way to Soroka Medical Center. He described the care he received at the hospital and the emotional farewell when he left.
05
The family tent
After the rescue, Farhan received visitors in a family guest tent in Karkur. Ynet described Arab and Jewish visitors coming to greet him, while small yellow flags and a photograph of kidnapped father and son Yousef and Hamza al-Ziadna hung at the entrance. Farhan thanked people for embracing his family and soldiers for risking their lives. He said he did not feel whole while people remained in Gaza and hoped every family would receive the embrace his family gave him. His stories about Aryeh stayed with him: Farhan had promised to visit the kibbutz, and later carried Aryeh’s words into conversations with visitors.