Chabad Jewish Center hosted a special Monday evening in Chicago with former hostages Maya and Itay Regev as well as their father, Ilan. The family has been traveling to Jewish centers around the United States to talk about their experiences on October 7, 2023, and the siblings’ time in captivity before they were released 51 days later in one of the first ceasefires of the war. The Hamas terrorists murdered 1,200 and kidnapped hundreds of people, and few saw their evil face-to-face and lived to tell the story. Maya and Itay are two of those people. Theirs are stories of faith, hope, survival, and, most of all, family.
The conversation began with a short video clip with audio from a phone call that Maya made to Ilan after the attacks began that fateful morning. Maya was screaming into the phone that she and Itay had indeed been shot in the legs by the terrorists as they were attempting to leave the Nova Festival grounds. It was at that point that Ilan armed himself and began driving to the location. In his mind, he wasn’t going on a rescue mission – he was going to collect the bodies of his children.
“They came to our car. Itay and I, we both got shot in both of our legs. They came to our car, they opened the door, and they took us out. When they were taking us out, I dropped the phone, and that’s when the call ended,” said Maya, “We were sure at that point that they were going to kill us or torture us. We didn’t think about them kidnapping us or anything else – we just thought that we were going to die.”
A terrorist got Itay on the ground and placed his assault rifle at the back of his head. Itay, speaking at the event in Hebrew, recalls praying for his life. He said that it wasn’t the terrorist who pulled his gun away from him, but God answering those prayers and doing it Himself. When they were taken to Gaza, Maya describes seeing crowds of people cheering and celebrating what the terrorists had just done.
Meanwhile, Illan was blocked by Israeli police from going any further to the location. Several officers and even people passing had to restrain him from entering what was a danger zone. While at the centers set up for the wounded, Illan would find out that his children were alive through video footage of them being taken into Gaza.
Itay and Maya were separated when they were taken to different hospitals in Gaza to treat their gunshot wounds – though, “treat” was hardly the word. Itay was not given any painkillers while a doctor, also under duress from the terrorists, pulled the bullet out. Itay was told not to scream, otherwise the terrorists would kill him.
Maya said of her brother, “All he cared about was staying alive and being alive. For us, the Jewish people, the most important thing is life. For [the terrorists], they don’t care. They praise it, but we want to stay alive. No matter how hurt Itay was, he managed to keep and stay calm.”
Maya, meanwhile, was given anesthesia and woke up with a cast on her leg. Underneath the cast was nothing more than a cleaned wound with the bullet still inside. The two spent most of their time in captivity in hospitals and physical therapy – though Maya recalls some two weeks she spent with a family in Gaza. Hamas uses civilian infrastructure for all their activities, including holding hostages.
“It was a big family with kids – a five-year-old and a 14-year-old. They all acted like it was normal. I remember the 14-year-old girl just played next to me and started asking about my favorite singer,” said Maya, “She’s talking to me and asking these questions. She’s a 14-year-old girl; she’s not supposed to see or know what her parents are doing. But then I understood that they are taught this at a very young age. So, for her, it’s normal.”
The Regevs also remember the people they met who were taken just like them. Maya had shared a hospital room with Guy Iluz, who proved to be someone she could confide in and share her hopes and prayers with. A lot of their conversations revolved around what they would do when they came home. After Guy died in the hospital, Maya assured herself that she would survive so that his family could know what happened to him.
Meanwhile, Itay stayed with Omer Shem Tov, their friend who had come with them to Nova. Omer changed the bandages around Itay’s wounded leg since no one was tending to it. They stuck together and supported each other like brothers. Itay would only be separated from Omer when it was revealed he would be released in the November 2023 ceasefire, along with Maya. Omer was released in February 2025. In the ambulance, Maya was given a phone with her dad on the line, and they spoke for the first time since she and Itay were taken.
“All we want is for our brothers and sisters to come back home. Now, I can say that they are home,” said Maya.
The Hamas attacks on October 7 were meant to destroy the Jewish people and the Jewish faith but only made them stronger. Maya and Itay never lost hope, always thinking of when they would return home. The strength of their family, like so many others affected by that horrific day, was tested. And the Regev family is stronger than they could’ve realized.
