Four Israelis — Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Eliya Cohen — who were freed from Hamas captivity on Saturday after more than 500 days in the Hamas terror group’s captivity were chained in the dark, starved, and psychologically abused in Gaza, they and their family members said upon their return.
Two further hostages — Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed — who, suffering from mental illness, each entered the Gaza Strip of their own accord some 10 years ago — came home Saturday bearing evident psychological scars from their captivity, and were described by relatives as largely unresponsive upon their return.
The terror group paraded five of the six captives on stages in propaganda-filled ceremonies in two locations in Gaza, before handing them over to the Red Cross, while al-Sayed was released separately to the humanitarian organization later in the day, without a ceremony.
They are the last six living hostages scheduled to be released as part of the first phase of the three-part hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group, which in January stopped fighting in the Gaza Strip after fifteen months of war sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel, when terrorists killed some 1,200 people and dragged 251 people into Gaza as hostages. A final four phase one hostages, all believed to be dead, are set for release on Thursday.
Forced to watch friends go free
In a new sign of Hamas’s depravity, the terror group brought two hostages who are still in captivity to watch one of Saturday’s release ceremonies.
In a video published by Hamas, Eviatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal were seen inside a vehicle in the stage area set up by the terror group for the release of three of the captives in central Gaza’s Nuseirat.
They were seen in the video calling on Israeli officials to secure their release, as they watched Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen, and Omer Wenkert be freed from captivity after 505 days.
This was the first sign of life from David that has been made public since he was abducted on October 7, 2023, and the first sign of life from Gilboa-Dalal since June 2024.
David’s sister, Yeela, called Hamas “monsters” after watching the clip, saying on Instagram: “They are alive. [Hamas] put both of them this morning in the most horrifying and evil situation they could be. There is no limit to the messed-up cynicism of these monsters. I admire you, my brothers.”
Both hostages are only slated for release in the second, still-unfinalized phase of the ceasefire deal.
Hostage made to kiss Hamas gunmen at ceremony
Omer Shem Tov, who was abducted from the Nova music festival during the cross-border onslaught, was held alone in a tunnel for all but the first 50 days of his more-than-16-month-long captivity, his father told the Kan public broadcaster.
Malki Shem Tov said his son “didn’t see daylight at all.”
The returnee’s father also addressed the images of his son kissing a Hamas gunman on the forehead during the propaganda ceremony for his release on Saturday morning — footage that has reportedly gone viral on Arabic-language social media, purporting to show gratitude from the hostage to the terror group.
Omer “told us that they compelled him to wave and to kiss that guard who was standing next to him. He said they told him what to do. You can see in the footage that someone came up to him and told him what to do,” his father said.
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