October 7 · Personal story
Shlomi Ziv
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Nova music festival near Re’im
Current outcome
Rescued alive · June 8, 2024
Shlomi Ziv was rescued alive in a military operation on June 8, 2024, after 246 days in captivity.
01
Life before
Shlomi Ziv lived in Elkosh with his wife Miren. He went to work on Nova’s security team with his friends Aviv Eliyahu, Miren’s cousin, and Jake Marlowe.
02
Abduction
When the October 7 attack began, Shlomi stayed at Nova to help festivalgoers. He was captured and taken to Gaza. Aviv Eliyahu and Jake Marlowe were killed at the festival. Shlomi did not know they had died until after his rescue, when he asked his family about them at the hospital.
03
Captivity
Shlomi spent 246 days in captivity with Almog Meir Jan and Andrey Kozlov. In a later public account, he described receiving one pita a day and being shown only footage of attacks on Israel and Israeli soldiers, intended to break the captives psychologically. His mother said he played rummy with the other hostages and heard the fighting nearby; they prayed for the soldiers’ safety. By the time of their rescue, the three men were in the seventh house where they had been held.
04
Return
Israeli forces rescued Shlomi alive on June 8, 2024, with Almog Meir Jan and Andrey Kozlov. During the escape, they ran under fire to a rescue vehicle that became stuck in sand. Tanks formed a protective circle until the group reached safety. Yamam commander Arnon Zamora was killed during the operation, later named in his honor.
05
After the return
On July 27, 2025, Shlomi spoke for more than an hour at the Valley Train heritage site in Kfar Yehoshua, launching a series of public talks after a year of silence. Nearly 300 people came to listen. During questions, a man told him that his son had been in the first tank to reach the rescue vehicle. Shlomi sent his thanks back to the soldier. He said the public’s welcome made him feel loved and that telling his story was how he intended to heal.