Internationally recognized Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli hosted former Gaza hostage Segev Kalfon for a private concert at the artist's home in Miami, Florida, last week.
Bocelli, who has previously expressed sympathy for Israelis freed from Hamas captivity, along with his wife Veronica, welcomed Kalfon for a day of music, conversation, and support.
During the meeting with Bocelli, Kalfon spoke with those present, saying, "If I survived, if I am surviving this hard condition [Hamas captivity], I felt like I could be everything. I can do everything. And no one can stop me."
After being asked what he wanted to do next with his life, Kalfon said, "I want to live!"
Although Bocelli personally received Kalfon after all living hostages were freed from captivity, it was not the first time the artist had become involved in the cause.
In December 2023, the tenor sent a letter of support to Yaffa Adar, an 85-year-old former Gaza hostage.
Adar declared in 2023 that, during her time in captivity, she found strength by singing Bocelli's music in her head.
After hearing her story, Bocelli wrote a letter to the 85-year-old grandmother, expressing his gratitude and inviting her to a public or private concert of his, as his guest, all expenses paid.
Bocelli originally heard the news when members of his team were in the middle of lighting Hanukkah candles. They all started crying when they heard, and he wrote the letter to Adar expressing his joy that his music had been valuable to her.
“Dearest Madam Yaffa, I wish I could hug you," Bocelli wrote. "I would like to thank you for the emotion that your story aroused in all the people who had the privilege to listen to it, and especially in me, as, quite incredibly, I am part of it!” he wrote.
“I truly would never have thought that my humble voice, this great gift I undeservedly received from the heavens, could one day turn out to be so important. There is no award, no applause, no honor or recognition that is worth as much as your words, which I assure you, I shall never forget,” Bocelli added.
Segev Kalfon: Beatings, abuse, and danger in Hamas captivity
Segev Kalfon spent 738 days in Hamas captivity before being freed following the implementation of US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan in October 2025.
Originally from Dimona, the Kalfon was taken from the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023, after being assaulted by terrorists. Recounting his experience to The New York Times in a recent interview, the former hostage said that, while blindfolded, bound, and in a moment of despair, he recited the Shema, the central Jewish declaration of faith.
Even in the hours before his release, terrorists assailed him with psychological torture. Kalfon recounted how they told him he alone would be sent back to the tunnels and would not return to Israel.
“All I would think of was how to survive another day,” he recalled while describing how an Israeli strike hit the building he was being kept in alongside Yosef-Chaim Ohana and Maxim Herkin.