JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Former hostage Omer Shem Tov revealed horrifying details of his time in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip in an interview Sunday with Israel’s Kan public broadcaster, describing the extraordinary ways he maintained his connection to Judaism even under the most difficult conditions.

“When I was with Itay Regev in an apartment in Gaza, a terrorist threw us a small bottle of grape juice and told us it was a gift from Mia Regev,” Shem Tov recalled. “We realized that we could use it for Kiddush, and we also had some pretzels. That little bottle stayed with me until about two months before I was released. Every Friday, we would fill the cap with grape juice and make Kiddush.”

One of the most difficult periods of Shem Tov’s captivity was a 50-day stretch during which he was held alone in a tunnel in complete darkness. “I spent 50 days in a tunnel in complete darkness,” he said. “Once a day, I would turn on a small flashlight just to make sure I could still see. Those were the 50 most critical days of my captivity.”

Shem Tov said he was severely malnourished and completely cut off from the outside world. “I was extremely hungry and completely isolated from the world,” he told Kan news. “I wasn’t with any other hostages during that time, and I wasn’t with the terrorists either. The darkness is extremely difficult at first, and slowly you go through a process with yourself. You put your ego aside and accept the situation.”

The cell where he was held was exceptionally small. “On the first day in the darkness, you simply feel like you’re suffocating. You don’t know what to do and you can’t see anything,” he said. “The cell was so small that you couldn’t stand up and you couldn’t stretch your arms out to the sides.”

Shem Tov also said he was forbidden from shouting. As a result, one of the things he wrote down as something he wanted to do after returning home was simply “to scream.”

Shem Tov described a moment that he considers a turning point in his captivity, when he decided to have what he called a “conversation with G-d.” “After some time, I had a conversation with G-d and surrendered to Him,” he said. “I told Him, ‘From now on, do whatever You want with me.’ From that moment on, I had a routine.”

He said he began meditating and using his imagination as a way to cope with the isolation.

“I imagined many things. My imagination developed in an incredible way. I would see things in a very tangible and real way,” he said.

Shem Tov was released at the end of January 2025 as part of a hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas. Since his release, he has spoken publicly about his experience, emphasizing messages of resilience, faith and hope.

In recent weeks, he appeared before an American delegation and sang the biblical hymn “Shir Hama’alot” (“A Song of Ascents”) before more than 1,000 Christian religious leaders.

In recent weeks, Israeli security forces have also killed some of the Hamas terrorists who were involved in holding Shem Tov captive.

Over the weekend, the IDF killed Sabaei Zahir Abd al-Hamid Abu Hasna, a Nukhba terrorist who had participated in holding Shem Tov in Gaza and who was accused of forcing him to kiss his head during the degrading ceremony surrounding his release.

According to the IDF, Abu Hasna infiltrated Israeli territory during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre and participated in holding Shem Tov hostage. More recently, the military said, he had been involved in efforts to advance additional terrorist attacks against IDF forces. He was killed in a targeted strike in the northern Gaza Strip.

For Shem Tov, the killing represents a form of closure after months of captivity, while his account of those months has offered a rare glimpse into the psychological and spiritual struggle endured by hostages held in Gaza.