Hostages were chained, starved, kept in pitch black; some return almost unresponsive

Four Israelis — Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert and 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.

The final four hostages out of the 33 in phase one, 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. Their families authorized Israeli media to publish Hamas’s propaganda video.

 

A Hamas propaganda video showing hostages Eviatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal during the release of three other captives, in central Gaza’s Nuseirat, February 22, 2025. (Hamas media office)

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.

“For the first 50 days he was with Itay Regev, and all the rest, on his own,” Malki Shem Tov, Omer’s father, said.

Itay Regev — Omer’s friend, who was abducted from the festival alongside him — was released in November 2023 during a previous hostage-ceasefire deal.

Malki Shem Tov said his son “didn’t see daylight at all.”

Nevertheless, he said, his son returned the same person who was kidnapped: he is still “Omer the funny, Omer the optimist — just 16-17 kilos (35-37 pounds) less.”

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.

Shem Tov, who was held in part of Hamas’s underground tunnel network, had very little exposure to media, Kan reported, but said he was aware of protests being held for the release of the hostages, and said, “It strengthened me, and gave me hope that in the end I’d be freed.”

Channel 12, meanwhile, said Shem Tov was initially held in apartments and later in tunnels, and that he was required to dress as a Muslim woman when moved around by his captors. He was once lowered into a tunnel in a small bucket, the network reported. At first, his hands were bound. He was cursed and spat at, it said.

The hostage saw Al Jazeera broadcasts during his captivity, and the reports of the struggle being waged for the hostages strengthened him, Channel 12 said. However, he once saw Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on television talking about the need to destroy Hamas without mentioning the hostages, and this made him very concerned, the report added.

Upon his release, Shem Tov was airlifted from a military facility near the Gaza border to a hospital in central Israel, and wrote on a whiteboard, “Now everything is OK! Thank you to the dear people of Israel, and to all the soldiers!”

“I want a hamburger,” he added.

Held in pitch-black tunnels, chained by hands and feet

Eliya Cohen was held alone for some of his captivity, but spent much of it alongside Or Levy and Eli Sharabi, both of whom were recently released, and Alon Ohel, who is still being held, he told his family, according to Channel 12.

They were chained not only by their feet but also by their hands, which caused open cuts, and they were physically abused by their captors.

Most of the time they were held in a pitch-black tunnel; for a few hours now and again, the terrorists lowered a torch into the tunnel. For months on end, they were not allowed to walk and couldn’t stand. Their captors starved them, and ate their meals in front of them, the report said.

Cohen, who was also abducted from the Nova music festival, was shot in the leg on October 7 and did not receive appropriate medical treatment.

He reported that in recent days, leading up to his release, his captors allowed him to step outside, and get some exposure to sunlight, according to Kan.

Cohen only learned on his release Saturday that his fiancee, Ziv Abud, survived the October 7 massacre; he also learned, however, that his best friend was killed that day.

Omer Wenkert lost 30 kilograms (66 pounds) in captivity since his abduction from the rave, according to Kan.

He suffers from Colitis and did not receive the medicines he needs. He has left some friends behind, he has said, and has brought back some signs of life.

Wenkert has told his family he was very badly beaten when abducted from the Nova festival.

He was not exposed to any media during his captivity, he said, and only learned on Saturday that his good friend Kim Demati, who was with him at the festival, was murdered that day by terrorists.

He also had no awareness of the demonstrations calling for the release of the hostages, Channel 12 reported — though his first request upon his return was to join the campaign, the network said.

Captors fattened up Shoham and Wenkert ahead of release – report

Wenkert was held alongside Tal Shoham — also released on Saturday — for about eight months, the two returnees have told family. They were also held with other hostages, Channel 12 reported.

Shoham, who was hardly exposed to media during his captivity, was not aware until his release that his wife Adi and their children Yahel, 3, and Naveh, 8 — were also taken hostage, but released on November 25, 2023, during the previous weeklong truce.

Shoham’s mother-in-law Shoshan Haran, his wife’s aunt Sharon Avigdori, and her daughter Noam, 12, were also taken hostage and released the same day.

Wenkert and Shoham were held in extremely humid tunnels, Channel 12 reported. “All the seasons felt the same,” they said, with no difference between winter and summer.

After starving them throughout their captivity, the men’s captors fattened them ahead of their release so they wouldn’t look so bad, the network reported.

Wenkert’s first request was for a cigarette, saying: “I’ve waited 500 days for this cigarette.”

Both have said they have come to feel like brothers, and that this connection will continue for good, the report said.

Sign of life for Guy Gilboa-Dalal

One of the hostages released on Saturday testified that he’d been held in captivity alongside Guy Gilboa-Dalal, about whose status nothing had been known since he was abducted from the Nova festival on October 7.

Gilboa-Dalal was later seen in the Hamas video at the release ceremony.

“Now we know that Guy is alive, [he and other hostages] are being held in very difficult conditions, and we have to get him out of there, as soon as possible,” his father Ilan told Channel 12.

The family has not learned any details about Guy’s condition, or with whom he’s held, but expects to hear more in the coming days, he said. “We don’t know anything at the moment.”

Decade-long hostages return unresponsive, families say

Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed were also released on Saturday. They had been held hostage by Hamas for almost a decade by the time of the group’s October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel.

Both men suffer from mental illness and entered the Strip of their own accord, at which point Hamas refused to return them.

Mengistu, then 28, entered Gaza from the Zikim beach in September 2014. His family had not heard from him since his abduction until a Hamas video purported to show him alive in early 2023. He spent 3,821 days in captivity.

The civilian captive appeared generally able-bodied at the propaganda ceremony on Saturday, but his condition was described as “not good” upon his return, and his family reported that he was almost unresponsive.

Netanyahu spoke to Mengistu on the phone after his release, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

“I am moved and embrace you, and the entire people of Israel are moved with me and embrace you today,” said Netanyahu, in what his office called a “warm and moving conversation.”

The prime minister thanked Mengistu’s family for continuing to fight for his release, and for not losing hope, and lamented the length of time Mengistu was held captive. He promised to help in Mengistu’s rehabilitation process.

According to the PMO, the family thanked Netanyahu for their son’s return.

Hisham al-Sayed ’emotionally and cognitively destroyed’

The family of Hisham al-Sayed, a Bedouin Israeli, who entered the Strip near the Erez Crossing in April 2015 when he was 28 years old, described him as “destroyed, emotionally and cognitively,” upon his return.

Sayed’s physical condition was better than expected, following a Hamas video from 2022 showing him looking sick and depleted in a bed, hooked up to an oxygen tank. The video constituted the first and last sign of life for the hostage throughout his near-decade of captivity.

Hamas did not stage a propaganda ceremony for al-Sayed’s release. It claimed the move was “out of respect for the Arabs of Israel,” despite having held him for nearly a decade, as well as murdering and abducting several Arab Israelis during the October 7, 2023, onslaught.

Sayed displayed little emotion as he was reunited with his family upon his return, in a video released by the Government Press Office.

Freed hostage Hisham al-Sayed arrives at Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, after being released by Hamas following 10 years in Gaza captivity, February 22, 2025. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)

“His mental condition is very difficult, he isn’t responsive,” the returnee’s father told Kan radio on Saturday. “He looks like he was in a torture camp for 10 years. We didn’t imagine that Hamas could be so cruel, they did something disgusting. He is emotionally and cognitively destroyed.”

According to Human Rights Watch, in the years prior to his entering Gaza, al-Sayed was “diagnosed with schizophrenia and a personality disorder, among other conditions” and was repeatedly institutionalized.

Netanyahu spoke with Sha’ban al-Sayed, the father of Hisham al-Sayed, hours after his son’s release.

According to Netanyahu’s office, the prime minister laments the amount of time it took to bring Hisham home, but noted he had promised to work tirelessly to bring him home, and did so.

“I promised you that we would return him and we turned the world upside down,” said Netanyahu. “Now we will do what is necessary to receive him well and take care of him.”

According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the elder Sayed thanked Netanyahu for his efforts, and wished him strength as he works to bring all the hostages back.