Rom Braslavski is a former Israeli hostage held in Gaza. He was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival during the October 7 massacre as an active-duty soldier on leave from the Logistics Corps. In captivity he was tortured and assaulted. In the video below he is informed by an Israeli security official that his chief tormentor in captivity — a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad — has been sent to his allotted virgins in the sky.
Rom Braslavski, who was held captive by Palestinian Islamic Jihad for 738 days after being kidnapped from the Nova festival in Israel, on October 7, 2023, received a phone call from Israeli security officials informing him that "Abu Yousef," Talal Abd al-Aal, the terrorist who… pic.twitter.com/HdevBoGBYw
— TheJewishAlly (@TheJewishAlly) June 30, 2026
The Times of Israel reports the story here, the Jerusalem Post here. The Post story adds: “The military also said that Abd al-Aal commanded a terrorist cell that infiltrated Israeli territory and took part in the October 7 Massacre, while he also held several Israeli hostages during the last war.”
Braslavski posted a message on X that has been translated from the Hebrew original:
“We wanted to inform you that Abu Yusuf has been neutralized.” Those were the words that changed my life. Anyone who knows me knows that I don’t cry much, and certainly not that easily….That’s the guy who weighed 100 kilograms and jumped on my neck when I was malnourished. That’s his face. That’s his hand, that’s him. That’s the man who, when I was tied hand and foot with bruises all over my body, very close to my own death—forced me to open my mouth and spit into it.
That’s the commander who commanded me and led the terrorist cell that held me for an entire year. That’s the commander who gave the order—”Tie up Abu Salam (that’s me) and abuse him.” That’s the man who, by his order and with his own hands, abused me and nearly killed me several times. That’s him.
Remember when you told me to pass a message to the Shin Bet? That you gave them the middle finger to their faces and that you’re not afraid of them? The message was delivered. Enjoy hell, you bastard son of [a bitch].
Thank you to the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the security forces, and to our very heroic soldiers….
Braslavski posted the message along with the linked image of his tormentor below. It must be difficult beyond imagining to live with that image in his head. May he find relief.
— Rom Braslavski (@RomBraslavski) June 30, 2026
