After hearing IDF troops above their tunnel, Hamas captors drew guns on hostage

The mother of freed Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov reveals that while he was held captive in a Gaza tunnel, Hamas terrorists heard IDF soldiers above and threatened to kill him if the troops approached.

Omer “heard the tanks above and the voices of the soldiers. The captors had their weapons drawn on him and told him, ‘If the IDF arrives, we’ll shoot you in the head,'” Omer’s mother, Shelly Shem Tov, tells the Kan public broadcaster.

In those moments, Shelly says, Omer told himself, “I have no control over anything — I can only pray.”

Shelly describes the daily conditions Omer faced, saying he was kept in “a confined space with four guards. It was even harder when the army was in the area, everything was tense.”

Omer was included in the final group of captives released in the first stage of the hostage-ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which ended on March 1. Shelly has said that he was kept for 450 days alone in a tunnel.

Shelly also comments on Omer’s recent meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington, saying that “Omer got the impression that the president was genuinely committed…and intended to bring everyone back. That was meaningful for him. He was disappointed that it took so long to bring him home.”

Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are currently holding 59 hostages, including 58 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. This includes the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.