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Omer Shem Tov was dancing with pals on the Nova Music Pageant in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists launched a devastating assault, killing tons of and loading Shem Tov and dozens of others onto the backs of pickup vans certain for Gaza.
The 20-year-old Israeli spent the following 505 days in Hamas captivity, serving as a slave within the terrorist group’s elaborate tunnels till “worry” crammed their eyes on Nov. 5, 2024 — when President Donald Trump received the presidential election, he informed Fox Information Digital.
Shem Tov recounted his months dwelling in Hamas’ captivity in Gaza as battle raged between the terrorist group and Israel, throughout a latest Zoom interview with Fox Information Digital. He was launched from captivity in February and traveled to the U.S. shortly afterward to fulfill with Trump within the Oval Workplace.
“As quickly as Trump was elected, I noticed the worry of their eyes,” Shem Tov mentioned. “They knew that every thing on floor is gonna change, that one thing else is gonna occur, and so they have been scared. They have been very scared.”
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Omer Shem Tov spoke with Fox Information Digital, recounting his 505 days in Hamas captivity earlier than his February launch. (Amir Levy/Getty Photos)
Shem Tov mentioned that for roughly the final 5 months of his captivity, he lived in Hamas’ tunnel system beneath the Gaza Strip, the place he was labored mercilessly.
“I used to be digging for them, and I used to be cleansing for them, and I used to be shifting round bombs from place to locations, and (carrying) meals. I can inform you, simply so , loopy quantities of meals. Quantities of meals that I’ve by no means seen earlier than,” he recounted.
Shem Tov realized concerning the American presidential election from his Hamas captors, who watched Al Jazeera on a TV stored within the tunnels.
“The final 5 months, the terrorists, they introduced TV to the tunnel and more often than not they watched Al Jazeera. That is the one factor they watch. And… they would not let me watch TV, yeah, however typically I might overhear the TV,” he mentioned.
Hamas militants parade newly-released Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov on stage in Nuseirat within the central Gaza Strip, as a part of the seventh hostage-prisoner launch on Feb. 22, 2025. (Eyad Baba/Getty Photos )
He mentioned he overheard the terrorists discussing the election and “how they need Kamala to win.”
As soon as the election was determined, Shem Tov mentioned, the terrorists modified the way in which they handled him, even providing him extra meals. He mentioned he principally survived on small biscuits all through his captivity, regardless of Hamas controlling giant quantities of meals.
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President-elect Donald Trump gestures throughout an election night time occasion in West Palm Seaside, Florida. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photos)
“So every thing modified,” he mentioned of how Hamas reacted to Trump’s win. “The quantity of meals that I acquired modified. The way in which they handled me modified. I may see simply them making ready for one thing greater.”
Shem Tov recounted that he spent his twenty first birthday in captivity, simply weeks after he was first kidnapped. He mentioned that between Oct. 7 and Oct. 30 of 2023, he did “not cry as soon as,” however that he felt a swell of emotion when remembering his household on his birthday.
The sister of Omer Shem Tov reacts at a household watch occasion as he seems on stage in Gaza earlier than his launch on Feb. 22, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Amir Levy/Getty Photos)
“At my birthday, it was the thirty first of October, it was the primary time that I broke down, I cried. It is for me, considering of my household, that is one thing that actually hits me. Understanding that my household, they’re again house, they’re secure, yeah, however they’ve to fret about me.… They do not know if if I am alive, if I am ravenous… that they had no thought. And I can inform you that whereas I used to be there, I suffered. I really suffered. I used to be abused, I used to be starved in essentially the most excessive approach,” he mentioned.
Since his launch, Shem Tov has praised Trump for his position in liberating the hostages and pursuing peace within the Center East. He informed Fox Information Digital that he had lengthy heard Trump’s identify and knew he was a “huge supporter of Israel,” however had largely stayed out of politics earlier than his kidnapping.
There may be at present a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza after Trump rolled out a 20-point plan to safe peace within the area in September. The plan included the discharge of all of the hostages. All hostages have been launched from Hamas captivity besides one, slain police officer Ran Gvili, whose physique stays in Gaza.
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Shem Tov was amongst a handful of hostages who traveled to the White Home to fulfill with Trump earlier in 2025, the place he relayed that he and different hostages are “so grateful to him.”
President Trump meets with Hamas hostage survivors within the Oval Workplace on March 5, 2025. (POTUS/X)
“I personally informed him that me and my household, and I might say all of Israel, imagine that he was despatched by God to launch these hostages and to assist Israel,” Shem Tov recounted of what he informed Trump throughout his assembly in February. “And he made that promise. He made that promise, he mentioned that he’ll convey again all of the hostages.”
For Shem Tov, freedom after captivity has meant maintaining shut ties with fellow hostage survivors.
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“I would say they develop into like my household, like my brothers and sisters. We’ve got many group chats and we see one another each now and again and there are some who actually develop into like brothers of mine,” Shem Tov mentioned.
