Kozlov and the others were held in two civilian buildings in the densely packed

territory. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said that the raid was carried out in the
two buildings simultaneously for fear the captors would kill some of the hostages if
they knew an operation was unfolding.

A Russian citizen, Kozlov moved to Israel almost two years ago. He was working as a
security guard at the Nova music festival on October 7 when he was kidnapped and
taken into Gaza.

In an interview with CNN, Kozlov’s family revealed some details of their son’s
ordeal, including that he initially believed the Israeli forces who saved him had been
sent to kill him.

Kozlov’s father, Mikhail Kozlov, said his son was “very scared” because Hamas
militants had for months falsely said that “Israel wanted to kill them all” claiming
“they were a problem for Israel”.