Yelena Magid, the aunt of Roni Kariboy who was released from captivity by Hamas yesterday, was interviewed this morning (Monday) by Keren Neubach in Kan Reshet Bet about the long days spent in captivity by her nephew and this is how she described it: "Roni said that he was captured by terrorists who held him inside a building that collapsed from the bombings. He managed to escape and hid for four days alone. He tried to reach the border. In the end, the Gazans caught him and returned him to the hands of the Hamas terrorists."
"The terrorists replied to Roni's friend, they laughed and hung up"
Roni was part of the production team at the nature party near Re'im. On the morning of the massacre he tried to escape with his friend, his aunt describes the moments of the kidnapping "At some point, Roni decided to stop running. He hid in a pit and put bushes over himself and told his friend "keep running", his friend was in touch with him until 10:30, so Roni told him that he heard voices of terrorists very close. Ten minutes later the friend called again and they answered him in Arabic, he started shouting 'Roni, Roni', and the terrorists laughed and hung up."
"This separation hurts us as citizens of Israel"
For a week, Roni's family members did not know what had become of him, until they received the message from the IDF reporting that there is a high probability that Roni was kidnapped. Roni has dual citizenship - Israeli and Russian, and his release was not achieved as part of the deal for the release of the abductees, but as part of an agreement between Hamas and Russia. His aunt claimed, that Roni has been in Israel for 30 years and that he is an Israeli for all intents and purposes. He barely speaks Russian, when he was a child his parents took care of him for Russian citizenship, but regardless he is an Israeli citizen. This hurts us as citizens of Israel. We have been here for more than 30 years."
About Roni's condition after being released from captivity, Yelena said: "I asked him if he has nightmares, and he said yes, but that's good because it means he's coping. He has a few head wounds because he was hit by a stone during the collapse of the building, but he's fine, he's being checked, Roni always laughs and smiles. What gave us hope from the first day is that we know the boy and a boy who is always smiling, can manage no matter what the conditions are."
