Tal Shoham and Omer Wenkert, two of the hostages freed today, were held together for about eight months, they have told family. They were also held with other hostages, Channel 12 reports.
They were held in extremely humid tunnels. “All the seasons felt the same,” they say, with no difference between winter and summer.
They lost a great deal of weight, but their captors fattened them ahead of their release so they wouldn’t look so bad.
Both have said they have come to feel like brothers, and that this connection will continue for good.
Wenkert has told his family he was very badly beaten when abducted on October 7, 2023, from the Nova music festival, where his good friend Kim Damti was murdered.
Wenkert has said he did not see any media and did not know of the struggle for the hostages’ release.
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.
His first request was to join the struggle for the rest of the hostages.
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