Released hostage Omer Wenkert said on Tuesday that he spoke with young Gazans while he was in captivity, and according to him, they didn’t talk about the liberation of Palestine, but about killing Jews.
At the closing event of the TEEN SPIRIT program by the Civilian Public Diplomacy Headquarters, Wenkert said: "Hamas is not a freedom organization; they are the most brutal terrorist organization in the world. I spoke with the young Gazans there, and they no longer talked about freedom, but about the genocide of the Jewish people."
Wenkert shared his experiences from the hundreds of days he spent in captivity, revealing some of the difficulties he faced, including not knowing the full picture of what happened on October 7.
"For most of my captivity, I wasn’t aware of what was happening here in Israel. A few minutes after crossing the border into Gaza, they took me into a tunnel, and from then on, I was cut off from the world and had no exposure to any media," he said.
"Only when I met other hostages did they give me information about what happened on October 7. I was sure the whole world would be shocked by what they did to us and would join the effort to free us, but I realized that wasn’t the case when we remained there."
"Despite the feeling of abandonment, I had great faith in the people of Israel, who wouldn’t let this go and would continue to press and do everything to bring us back," Wenkert said, adding, "The world must never forget what happened here."
Gaza hostages lack basic hygiene in Hamas tunnels
Wenkert also addressed the sanitary conditions in captivity: "We didn’t have basic hygiene in the tunnels. I didn’t shower for nine and a half months, and barely once every 60 days did they bring me a bottle of water to wash myself. I lived in very poor sanitary conditions. It was so hot and humid down there that we walked around in our underwear in the tunnels all day. As someone with colitis, I didn’t know how I would survive this."
"I had a fantasy of standing and raising my hands, just being able to jump in place—that’s what I longed for. You realize you’re a person without freedom. I didn’t know I had the strength to survive this," he said.
"I’m proud of myself for the way I defeated captivity," Wenkert added. "I won every minute there. The moment I was kidnapped and they tied my hands outside the shelter, I understood these were my life circumstances, and there was nothing I could do about it now. I thought it would take between two months and 15 years. Today, I understand that in 15 years, Hamas will no longer be here."