FREED Hamas hostage Andrey Kozlov has been reunited with his air hostess girlfriend who waited for him for eight months after only days of dating.
The 27-year-old was stunned to find Jennifer Master had stood by him through his 245 days in hell and tirelessly fought for his release.
Andrey Kozlov was finally reunited with his girlfriend Jennifer Master on Saturday after eight brutal months apart
Hostage and Missing Families ForumAndrey (middle) smiles with his family and Jennifer (right) from a hospital in Tel Aviv[/caption]
ReutersJennifer spent eight months campaigning for his release alongside his mother Eugenia[/caption]
ReutersThe moment Andrey landed safely back in Israel after 245 days of hell[/caption]
Flight attendant Jennifer, 32, has spoken of her absolute relief Andrey was saved, but warned he has returned as a “changed man” after his horrifying ordeal.
Handcuffed and bound for months on end in darkness, Andrey has revealed how his Hamas captors cruelly tried to convert him to Islam by forcing him to read the Quran every day.
He recalled how his taunting guards told him he would never leave Gaza and forced him to draw a picture of his mother whose face he struggled to recollect after eight months of captivity.
Andrey was dramatically rescued in a major Israeli operation last Saturday alongside fellow hostages Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, and Shlomi Ziv, 41.
All four were abducted from the Nova music festival and dragged into Gaza on the morning of Hamas’s October 7 killing spree in southern Israel that left 1,200 dead.
Bodycam footage of the rescue mission showed terror-stricken Andrey and Almog holding up their hands while hiding behind cushions after Israeli special forces burst into the room they were being held.
Back safely in a hospital in Tel Aviv, the Russian DJ and amateur surfer, who moved to Israel two years ago, finally laid eyes on Jennifer again.
Describing the moment, Jennifer said: “He was very surprised.”
She told the Daily Mail: “I was the first to meet him. He just fell on the ground, crying. I took his brother and we are just hugging, squeezing him.”
Andrey said he had feared Jennifer, who met on Bumble last August, had moved on.
But the air hostess for Israel’s El Al airline said she had fallen in love with him quickly.
“He was always there for me, that’s what made me love him,” she explained.
Yet, their burgeoning romance was shattered when Andrey was snatched by Hamas terrorists from the music festival where he was working as a security guard.
Jennifer had to call his parents in St Petersburg who had no idea who she was.
From then on, she worked side-by-side with his family as they fought to bring him back, even teaching his Russian mother, Eugenia, Hebrew.
Dima, Andrey’s 17-year-old brother, called Jennifer a “hero”, adding that his family were “endlessly grateful” for her help.
THE RESCUE MISSION
ON Saturday, Israeli forces launched a large-scale rescue mission, known as the”Arnon” operation, to rescue four hostages being held by Hamas.
Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40 were all freed in the two-pronged raid inside the Nuseirat refugee camp.
All four had been taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 last year, when the terror group led a massacre on the Nova music festival that left 360 dead.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said their forces came under heavy fire during the rescue mission.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claimed IDF forces killed 274 Palestinians, including children, in the raid.
The freed hostages were taken to a makeshift helipad in Gaza and then airlifted to Israel after the mission.
Following Saturday’s rescue operation, Hamas is believed to be transporting more hostages into tunnels in a possible attempt to keep them out of reach of IDF commando forces.
Since the October 7 bloodshed, Israel has only managed to rescue seven of the estimated 251 hostages. Many are believed to have been killed in air strikes or at the hands of their terrorist captors.
An agreement between Israel and Hamas last November led to the release of 105 hostages.
The moment Israel special forces burst into an apartment to rescue the hostages
Andrey is seen with fellow hostage Almog Meir Jan in a dark room after IDF forces reached them
ReutersAndrey is pictured as he communicates with friends and family for the first time after his release[/caption]
East2WestJennifer said that Andrey was shocked to see her after he was rescued and burst into tears[/caption]
ReutersIsrael celebrates the release of Andrey[/caption]
It comes as Israeli officials claimed Hamas commanders have been given orders to kill hostages if they believe IDF forces might be near.
The hostage takers have been allegedly instructed to “shoot the captives” on the spot if they believe they may be rescued, sources told The New York Times.
There are also fears a small group of hostages are being held close to Hamas terror boss Yahya Sinwar to function as human shields against a possible Israeli attack.
It is understood that Sinwar was hiding in tunnels beneath Rafah for a while, but is now believed to be in the city of Khan Younis where there is an extensive tunnel network.
Yesterday, The Sun told of a heartbroken grandson who marked 250 days since his beloved 84-year-old granddad was taken hostage with one demand – bring him home.
Like many families desperately waiting for news on their loved ones, former Israeli footballer Daniel Lifshitz Daniel said not enough is being done to rescue those still captive like his grandfather Oded.
Who are the four freed hostages?
Noa Argamani
The student, 26, was at the Nova music festival in the Israeli desert when she was kidnapped by Hamas fighters.
Harrowing footage emerged of the militants dragging her away on a motorcycle as she begged “Don’t kill me”.
She screams “Don’t kill me! No, no, no”, as the gunmen speed away with her trapped in between them.
Her boyfriend, Avinatan Or, is held tightly by two other terrorists nearby as he watches his helpless girlfriend in horror.
Noa’s family only discovered she had been taken when they stumbled upon the disturbing footage online.
Almog Meir Jan
The 21-year-old was also attending the Nova music festival on October 7 when he was seized.
His mum, Orit, said in an interview he had been due to start a new job in Israel’s “high-tech” sector on October 8.
Almog had been attending the music festival with a friend who was killed and later burned.
Orit said her son had called her at 7.45pm on October 7 to tell her the festival had been stopped and he would call her back every hour – but he never phoned again.
One of his pals is said to have identified Almog in a video clip published by Hamas several hours later.
Andrey Kozlov
The 27-year-old was working as security guard at the music festival on October 7 when he was kidnapped.
He is a native of St Petersburg, Russia, according to the Times of Israel, and had moved to Israel 18 months earlier.
Andrey lived near Tel Aviv with friends before his capture.
Shlomi Ziv
The 40-year-old was also working as a security guard at the Nova music festival.
He spoke to one of his sisters, telling her he was heading home from the festival after the Hamas attack had started.
Shlomi told her there was a bottleneck of cars, according to a Times of Israel report.
He had been at the event with a friend and relative of his wife.
Both died in the massacre.
It was several weeks before his family knew he had been taken hostage.
Freed Israeli hostage Noa Argamani hugs her father Yaakov after she was rescued
The terrifying moment Noa was kidnapped by Hamas at the Nova music festival and taken into eight months of captivity
Hostage Almog Meir Jan reacts with a thumbs up after being rescued by the IDF
Shlomi Ziv, 40, was also rescued in the daring mission