Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with former hostage Rom Braslavski in Rome at Chigi Palace, Italy's Presidency of the Council of Ministers announced on its website on Friday.
Braslavski was held in Gaza for 738 days after he was kidnapped on October 7.
Photographs of the meeting show the Italian leader hugging the former hostage.
On Sunday, Braslavski was a guest at the Atreju conference at Castel Sant'Angelo, which is hosted annually by Meloni's right-wing party, Brothers of Italy. He was greeted with applause at the conference, hosted by Ester Mieli, a senator from the Brothers of Italy party and a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors.
Braslavski was also interviewed by Italian Jewish journalist and former editor-in-chief of La Repubblica, Maurizio Molinari, at the conference.
Speaking at Brothers in Italy conference
At the conference, the former hostage spoke about the hostage ribbon pin he wore, Ynet reported. He recalled meeting with an Italian citizen outside who didn't know what the pin represented.
"It's very unfortunate that people in the world don't know what this pin means," Braslavski said, as quoted by Ynet. "It's a symbol of unity, equality, but also a symbol for the blood, murder, pain, and trauma of October 7.
"I went to work as a security guard at a party and look what happened to me - my life was ruined," he added. "The massacre on October 7 was without just cause. Such a massacre is inhumane.
"Until two months ago, I was inside Gaza, 40 meters underground. My clothes were torn after I hadn't showered for at least a month, hadn't eaten for days, and look how I'm dressed today - the wheel has turned, and it's a divine miracle."
James Genn contributed to this report.