{"id":18612,"date":"2025-10-24T09:10:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T09:10:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/18612\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T09:10:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T09:10:25","slug":"former-hamas-hostage-recounts-505-days-in-captivity-at-packed-south-florida-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/18612\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Hamas hostage recounts 505 days in captivity at packed South Florida event"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Israeli native<\/a> who spent 505 days in captivity after being taken hostage by Hamas<\/a> during the Oct. 7, 2023, Nova music festival, was met with a standing-room-only crowd Wednesday night at Chabad of Weston.<\/p>\n

Omer Shem Tov, freed in February 2025, spoke one-on-one with CBS News Miami. <\/p>\n

Shem Tov credited his survival and safe return to his faith and to former President Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“I stayed alone for 450 days. In darkness most of the time,” Shem Tov said. “Starvation, extreme starvation.”<\/p>\n

Held underground in Gaza tunnels<\/p>\n

Shem Tov said that during the first weeks of his captivity, he was moved from apartment to apartment across Gaza before being forced underground into the network of tunnels.<\/p>\n

At times, he said, he could hear Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and military vehicles directly above him.<\/p>\n

He described spending most of his days in isolation and in near-total darkness, suffering from hunger and despair.<\/p>\n

“I got to a certain point that I have to choose between life and just going to depression and then just sinking,” he said.<\/p>\n

A brief change before release<\/p>\n

Shem Tov said that during his final month in captivity, conditions improved dramatically. He recalled being fed properly and receiving more humane treatment, which he believes was a tactic by Hamas to project a false image to the world.<\/p>\n

Despite the temporary relief, he did not forget the suffering he endured or the horrors he witnessed.<\/p>\n

He recounted the brutal experiences of other hostages, including a woman whose limb was reattached incorrectly and a fellow Nova attendee who made a final phone call to loved ones as they died.<\/p>\n

Faith and leadership credited for return<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Weston audience, Shem Tov expressed gratitude for the diplomatic efforts that secured his release.<\/p>\n

He said his Jewish faith sustained him during his captivity, and he praised Trump’s leadership in helping to bring him home.<\/p>\n

“They always teach us about peace\u2014that peace will come,” Shem Tov said. “There will be peace upon us, and this is what we believe ever since we were young. I hope to see that dream coming true very quickly.”<\/p>\n

Focused on those still in Gaza<\/p>\n

Now free, Shem Tov said his mission is to raise awareness for the remaining hostages<\/a> still held in Gaza\u2014both those alive and those believed to be deceased.<\/p>\n

The crowd in Weston responded with support and applause as he shared his story of endurance, faith and hope.<\/p>\n

“I hope to see that dream coming true very quickly,” he repeated, underscoring his belief that peace remains possible\u2014even after 505 days in darkness.<\/p>\n

\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Israeli native who spent 505 days in captivity after being taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[506,28,30,29,239,269,807,15353],"class_list":["post-18612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-broward-county","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-hamas","tag-israel","tag-south-florida","tag-weston"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}