Saad's Parents Kidnapped and Tortured by Abu Nidal's Fatah Group in 1980

What was said

"On one of their return trips to Lebanon, they were kidnapped by Abu Nidal's group, Fatah, and some really bad things happened during their captivity, very much like the stuff that you hear about on October 7th. But luckily, they weren't killed. When my father returned, he had a temporary facial paralysis akin to when you have a really severe stroke and your face is completely disfigured and asymmetric."

Gad Saad revealed that his parents were kidnapped by Abu Nidal's Palestinian militant faction in 1980 after returning to Lebanon for business. They were tortured and pressured to sign false confessions stating they were Israeli spies so the captors could legally execute them and seize their property. His father suffered severe trauma resulting in temporary facial paralysis similar to Guillain-Barré syndrome. The family was freed through connections to Hafez al-Assad via his mother's friend, though money likely changed hands.