A tattoo reading "Now is good" marks the hand of Omer Wenkert, yet the 23-year-old Israeli survivor of 505 days in Hamas captivity insists his present remains haunted by those still held in Gaza's underground tunnels. Speaking with raw emotion about his brutal ordeal and ongoing trauma, Wenkert has transformed his freedom into an urgent mission – ensuring no hostage is forgotten in a conflict now approaching its 600th day.
Wenkert has declared he cannot truly be free while other captives remain in Gaza, speaking out in a powerful interview that revealed harrowing details of his 505-day ordeal in Hamas captivity.
"They don't have their freedom, I cannot accept my freedom if they're not all back here," Wenkert told Reuters during an interview at his home in Gedera, Israel. "I wake up with it in the morning, I go to sleep with it at night. It's with me every minute of every day."
The 23-year-old survivor, who was released in February under a temporary ceasefire agreement, expressed frustration at the ongoing stalemate in hostage negotiations, according to Reuters. Little progress has emerged from recent indirect talks between Israel and Hamas mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and envoys from US President Donald Trump's administration in Doha.
Reuters reported that Hamas insists it will release all remaining hostages only in exchange for a complete end to the war, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu favors temporary ceasefires and continues to maintain that the conflict can only conclude with Hamas' total defeat.
Wenkert described the horrific circumstances of his capture during the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack that targeted the Nova music festival. According to his account provided to Reuters, he initially hid beneath dead bodies in a roadside bomb shelter as Hamas fighters set it on fire.
"Suddenly there was a red bright light, and it became very hot and smoke started coming in (to the road side bomb shelter) and we understood they were setting the bomb shelter on fire," Wenkert said in the interview with Reuters. "And the fire was going inside, they were burning the bodies that were laid at the entrance."
Reuters noted that after escaping the burning shelter, Wenkert was stripped to his underwear, beaten, and transported into Gaza where he described being attacked by civilians of all ages. "And there (in Gaza) hundreds of civilians stormed (the truck), people of all ages, two year olds on the shoulders of their fathers, with rocks, with pipes, lynching me, blocking the Hamas pick up truck, trying to pull me out," he recounted.
The torment continued underground, where Wenkert spent his entire captivity. Reuters reported that he described severe physical and psychological abuse, including being beaten with lead pipes and surviving on minimal food – often just a single piece of moldy bread per day.
"They beat us up a lot, a lot, they left me tied in my underwear for three days until they got me something to wear, my underwear was soaked in pee, because I peed my pants from fear when they kidnapped," Wenkert told Reuters.
The psychological toll led him to a breaking point. "I felt I was at the point of no return. That even if they moved me straight home, I won't be back to being myself ever. I won't be able to recover," he explained to Reuters. "I felt totally crashed, and I had a ceremony of farewell from myself, from who I was, what I was, from the person that I was. I said goodbye to myself first, and then I imagined my mother and my father saying goodbye to me."
Reuters reported that Wenkert was held alongside other hostages, including Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal, for approximately half of his captivity. Both men remain in Gaza among the estimated 58 hostages still held captive, of whom about 20 are believed to be alive.
Before his release, Wenkert was paraded in front of crowds by armed Hamas militants in Nuseirat, Gaza. Hours after his release, Hamas released footage showing David and Gilboa-Dalal watching the spectacle of Wenkert's release and pleading for their own freedom. Since returning to Israel, Wenkert has joined family members of remaining hostages in public demonstrations demanding their release. Reuters noted that he recently participated in a march marking the second birthday in captivity for Guy Gilboa-Dalal.
"I can't understand it, you've heard us (released hostages), you've heard me, I'm everywhere, you've heard every one that returned (from Gaza captivity)," Wenkert said to Reuters. "There is no one that haven't spoken, whether in Israel, in the world, on social media, in closed doors. You've heard us everywhere. How can people be left there for even one more minute? How? How?"
He adds, "The time for a deal was a long time ago. I came out late, so what can we say about those who are still there? It's about time to end it, war or not war, truly, first and foremost to stop abandoning the hostages. Bring them home."
