Hostage heard Hamas planning another Oct 7-style attack, says father

Zvika Mor: “Until the very last moment before Eitan came up from the tunnel, they were busy digging there.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

The father of freed hostage Eitan Mor said Thursday that his son emerged from Gaza with chilling accounts of Hamas preparing for another October 7-style assault, even as negotiations for his release were underway.

Speaking to Ynet, Zvika Mor said his son repeatedly encountered senior Hamas figures who openly described their intentions.

According to Mor, Eitan told him that “Eitan used to say that he had been several times with [Hamas leader in Gaza] Izz al-Din Haddad, and he constantly heard that they were planning the next October 7 for us. Until the very last moment before Eitan came up from the tunnel, they were busy digging there. They keep digging tunnels all the time.” He added that his son heard similar statements from the same commander “several times,” emphasizing that the digging continued until “the last moment before he was released.”

Mor said his son is slowly adjusting to freedom, describing a routine split between rehabilitation sessions and travel around the country with the close friends who stood by him before the abduction. Much of Eitan’s time, he added, is spent reconnecting with family.

One unexpected result of nearly two years underground, Mor said, is Eitan’s fluency in Arabic spoken with a Gazan accent.

He recalled his son entering a taxi on the way to rehab, answering the Arab driver in Arabic, and startling him when he said, “Ana min Ghazza.” The driver reportedly pulled over, thinking he was transporting someone who had crossed illegally, until Eitan explained he had been held in Gaza.

Eitan was among the group of freed captives welcomed Thursday at the White House by President Donald Trump, who praised them at a gathering in the State Dining Room. “You’re not a hostage anymore,” the president said. “Today, you’re heroes.”

The former hostages who met with Trump and other administration officials included Matan Angrest, Omri Miran, Bar Kuperstein, Nimrod Cohen, Ziv and Gali Berman, Ariel and David Kunio, Matan Zangauker, Ilana Gritzewsky, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Segev Kalfon, Evyatar David, Eitan and Iair Horn, Yosef-Chaim Ohana, Avinatan Or, Noa Argamani, Eitan Mor and Elkana Bohbot, according to the Jerusalem Post.