Marking the one-year anniversary of the deadly October 7 terrorist attack at the Nova Music Festival in Israel, survivors like Maya and Itay Regev are recalling their experiences of capture, torture, and hope. The brother and sister, 21 and 18 at the time of the attack, had been told about the festival by Maya’s friend, Omer Shem Tov. By 6:30 in the morning, however, Hamas terrorists had attacked the festival and would kill around 1,200 people that day. In a March interview, Maya recalled the mayhem during the attack. “It was insane,” she said. “When the sirens started, we thought it would be over soon. Only when someone passed by shouting ‘Guys, run!’ did we panic and start running. We ran for about an hour and a half until we couldn’t anymore.” Ori Danino, a friend of a friend, who had gotten away from the mayhem decided to turn around and get them. “We got into his car and drove off, and then they started shooting at us. I got hit by two bullets in the leg, and Itay was hit in the thigh. I closed my eyes for a moment from the pain and fear, and when I opened them, the driver’s seat was empty.” Omer tried to grab the steering wheel, but the three friends were captured. Ori, too, had been abducted.

At a recent event in New York, the Regev’s recalled life as hostages. Along with Omer, they were taken to a home in Gaza. Omer and Itay were kept in the same place, but Maya was taken to a different floor, where she spent 8 days in excruciating pain. “My leg was really broken… broken is a pretty word. The bullet hit my bone and it crushed six centimeters of it. My foot wasn’t connected at all to the rest of my leg,” Maya told the audience. Itay, who was also wounded, had bullets removed from his leg with tweezers and without anesthesia. Maya was eventually taken to a Hamas-run hospital for treatment on her leg, where she was operated on without an anesthetic and given ketamine. She remembers very little of the two weeks during her recovery.

During her time at the hospital, Itay and Maya were able to trade notes back and forth by guards.  Omer and Itay had been forced to dress as Muslim women and moved to another house. “It was a light, a small light in all the darkness, that I hear from my little brother and from Omer, that I understand they are ok,” Maya told The Jerusalem Post of the notes. Itay and Maya were released during a week-long ceasefire in November. Omer remains in captivity. Ori Danino, who had returned from safety to help the siblings and Omer, was found deceased in a tunnel in Rafah this past September. Maya was in the hospital for 8 months after her release and had to receive physical therapy to learn how to walk again. Although they are home, their captivity is far from being behind them. “Even though Maya and I are home, Omer is still there,” Itay told The Jerusalem Post. Please pray for the safe return of the nearly 100 hostages who remain in captivity.