Hamas wanted Kamala Harris to be president, says freed Israeli hostage
Hamas wanted Kamala Harris to be president, a freed Israeli hostage has claimed.
Omer Shem Tov, has said his captors had hoped the Democrat would win the election and credits Donald Trump for helping to secure his freedom.
'As soon as Donald Trump was elected, they understood that he wants to bring the hostages back home,' Mr Shem Tov told CNN.
The Israeli national was released in February as part of a short-lived ceasefire after spending 505 days held captive following Hamas's Oct 7 attacks.
Mr Shem Tov was abducted along with 43 other people on October 7 2023 as he danced with his friends at the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel.
He spent much of his time in captivity in isolation in a tunnel beneath the Gaza strip, where he was starved.
During his time in captivity, Mr Shem Tov said that he frequently spoke about politics with his Hamas jailers and that his treatment significantly improved after Mr Trump's election win.
Hamas 'stopped cursing me, stopped spitting on me,' he told CNN.
While held hostage, the Israeli man lost more than 50lb, after his daily food rations were reduced from two pittas and some cheese to a single biscuit.
'Starvation, it's an awful thing,' Mr Shem Tov previously told ABC. 'Seeing my bones, my shoulder bones, my rib cage, I can feel it. Eating a biscuit a day, calculating how to eat it throughout the day.
'Not a lot of people can imagine what true darkness is. If you're in a dark room you move your hand, you see shadows moving. I did not see those shadows. There were times I thought I went blind.'
After Mr Trump's election victory, Mr Shem Tov said he started receiving more food again, enabling him to survive.
Following his Feb 22 release, Mr Shem Tov and another hostage, Keith Siegel, met with Mr Trump and praised the president for bringing about their freedom.
'I am home because of his efforts,' Mr Siegel told CNN, before urging Mr Trump to free the remaining hostages.
'I believe that he wants to do this and it's important to him. He has told us that. I ask him to do whatever he can and to do it as soon as possible to get an agreement secured and to get them all back,' he added.
On Wednesday, the US denied agreeing terms to a ceasefire deal despite claims by Hamas.
Hamas released a statement saying that it had reached an agreement with US special envoy Steve Witkoff for a 'permanent ceasefire' in exchange for the release of 10 living Israeli hostages.
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