Omer Wenkert

When rocket sirens began at around 6:30 a.m., Omer and Kim took cover in a roadside bomb shelter near the festival. (1)(3)

From inside the shelter, Omer texted his parents. He wrote that there were missiles over his head, then that there was gunfire. When they asked if he was okay, he answered: "No." (4)

His last message reached them at 7:50 a.m. He told them he was scared to death. After that, they did not hear from him again. (2)

Hamas terrorists reached the shelter, shouting "Allahu Akbar," and threw grenades inside. (5)

A young woman picked up one of the grenades and threw it out of the shelter. Omer never learned who she was or whether she survived. (1)

The terrorists set the shelter on fire. Omer hid beneath the bodies of people who had been killed. (1)(3)

Kim was still in the shelter with him.

Omer decided to get up and walk out of the burning shelter. If he was going to die, he said, he would die outside, on his feet. One of the terrorists told him he would not shoot him. (1)

Kim was killed in the shelter. Omer learned of her death only after he returned to Israel. (1)

The terrorists tied Omer's hands and feet, stripped him to his underwear, beat him and loaded him onto a pickup truck. Within about ten minutes, he was in Gaza. (1)(5)(3)

Footage from that day shows the terrorists hitting him after his capture. (6)

At 11:11 a.m., Hamas published a video of Omer tied up, in his underwear, on the flatbed of the truck. That was how his family learned he had been abducted. (2)(4)

At first, Omer was held with another Israeli hostage, Liam Or, and four Thai captives. They were given three dates in the morning and half a pita at night. Two people shared half a liter of water. (5)

Liam was released during the November 2023 truce. Omer was not. (1)

He was moved underground into a cell of about one square meter, with a hole in the floor as a toilet. He spent more than six months there alone, mostly in complete darkness. (1)(7)

To keep his mind intact, he walked the length of the tunnel corridor for hours, sang Israeli rap songs and talked aloud to himself. (7)(5)

Omer had not grown up religious. In the tunnel, he recited Psalm 23, the psalm that begins "The Lord is my shepherd," and drew strength from its words about walking through the valley of the shadow of death without fear. (7)

Omer has colitis, an autoimmune disease that requires regular treatment. In captivity, he received no treatment for it. He lost more than 30 kilograms. (8)

Omer was released on February 22, 2025, in the first phase of the ceasefire and hostage-release agreement. His medical condition was one of the reasons he was included. (2)(4)

Hamas staged the handover in Nuseirat, in central Gaza. Masked, armed Hamas members led Omer and two other hostages, Omer Shem Tov and Eliya Cohen, onto a stage in front of a crowd. (11)

The three were dressed in fake army uniforms, although none of them had been soldiers when abducted. They were told to hold up certificates issued by Hamas before being handed over to the Red Cross. (11)

Evyatar and Guy were not released. Hamas made them watch the ceremony from inside a vehicle and filmed them there, repeatedly begging, "Save us please." (12)

From the stage, Omer saw them in the van. (5)

Evyatar and Guy were freed in October 2025. Days later, they met Omer and Tal Shoham again at Beilinson Hospital. Omer had arranged new guitars for them, including an electric guitar for Evyatar. (10)