Latest news with #Wenkert
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hostages are not a political issue, freed hostage Omer Wenkert tells Herzog
Wenkert and his parents stated that Omer wouldn't stop speaking about his experience in Hamas captivity until the last hostage was brought home. PresidentIsaac Herzog met with released Gaza hostage Omer Wenkert and his parents to discuss Omer's experience in captivity and the challenges of recovery on Tuesday 'Your presence here is a message of hope—to encourage those still held captive, to cry out on their behalf, to pray, and to do everything possible to bring every one of them home, as soon as possible,' Herzog said. Wenkert, who was held by Hamas for over a year after being kidnapped from a bomb shelter in Kibbutz Re'im following the Nova Music Festival Massacre and was released this past February, told the president that the hostages should not be treated as a political issue. 'First and foremost, it is our duty—as a people and as a state—to bring all our people back,' he said, expressing how worried he was regarding the condition of the remaining hostages. 'They don't have time. Not one more minute. Let's save them. Let's save ourselves so we can truly begin to rise again,' Niva, Omer's mother, added. Omer's father, Shai, stated that until the last hostage is returned, Omer would continue to testify to what he endured in captivity. 'We are part of the most important struggle in the State of Israel, bringing all the hostages home,' he said.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
I'm not free until all hostages return, says former Israeli Gaza captive
GEDERA, Israel (Reuters) - Although he fought hard to survive more than 500 days of captivity in Gaza, Israeli Omer Wenkert says he is not free. As long as hostages are being held in the Palestinian enclave, his torment will not end. "They are still there and I wake up to this every morning and go to sleep with it every night. It's with me every moment of the day," he told Reuters in an interview at his home in Gedera. Wenkert, 23, was taken hostage by Hamas during the militant group's October 7 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The attack precipitated Israel's military campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 52,900 Palestinians, according to local health officials and left Gaza on the brink of famine, international agencies say. Taken from the site of the Nova music festival, Wenkert said that at first he was held in isolation, at times living off one piece of mouldy pita bread a day and beaten by his captors with a lead pipe. He survived, he said, by imagining his future after captivity, to the smallest of details. Efforts in Doha to secure another hostage deal and Gaza ceasefire have shown no sign of breakthrough so far. Around 20 of the remaining 58 hostages are believed to still be alive. Among them are Eviatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal, with whom Wenkert was held for around half of his captivity. But on February 22, during a two-month ceasefire, he was released and they were left behind. Before being handed over to the Red Cross, Wenkert was led on stage by armed Hamas militants before a crowd. Hours later, Hamas published a video in which Gilboa-Dalal and David were shown watching the spectacle and begging for their release. "They are part of me," he said. "They don't have their freedom and until they are all back, I cannot have mine."
Reuters
15-05-2025
- Reuters
I'm not free until all hostages return, says former Israeli Gaza captive
GEDERA, Israel, May 15 (Reuters) - Although he fought hard to survive more than 500 days of captivity in Gaza, Israeli Omer Wenkert says he is not free. As long as hostages are being held in the Palestinian enclave, his torment will not end. "They are still there and I wake up to this every morning and go to sleep with it every night. It's with me every moment of the day," he told Reuters in an interview at his home in Gedera. Wenkert, 23, was taken hostage by Hamas during the militant group's October 7 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The attack precipitated Israel's military campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 52,900 Palestinians, according to local health officials and left Gaza on the brink of famine, international agencies say. Taken from the site of the Nova music festival, Wenkert said that at first he was held in isolation, at times living off one piece of mouldy pita bread a day and beaten by his captors with a lead pipe. He survived, he said, by imagining his future after captivity, to the smallest of details. Efforts in Doha to secure another hostage deal and Gaza ceasefire have shown no sign of breakthrough so far. Around 20 of the remaining 58 hostages are believed to still be alive. Among them are Eviatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal, with whom Wenkert was held for around half of his captivity. But on February 22, during a two-month ceasefire, he was released and they were left behind. Before being handed over to the Red Cross, Wenkert was led on stage by armed Hamas militants before a crowd. Hours later, Hamas published a video in which Gilboa-Dalal and David were shown watching the spectacle and begging for their release. "They are part of me," he said. "They don't have their freedom and until they are all back, I cannot have mine."
The Guardian
12-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Absolute fear': Israeli hostage describes abuse during 505-day Hamas captivity
An Israeli hostage freed by Hamas last month has described the distressing conditions and abuse he says he endured during 505 days held in Gaza. In an interview on Israeli television, Omer Wenkert, 23, said he had hidden in a bomb shelter with a close friend when it became clear the Nova music festival was under attack by Hamas and other militants from Gaza on 7 October 2023. 'You say, 'Well … this is probably the end,' and then one of them … started shooting us. It started to get hot and smoke came into the shelter, and then someone shouted from the entrance 'Listen, they're burning us.' … There was silence in the shelter,' Wenkert told Channel 12. 'I was very busy the whole time … It's terrible to say that, busy taking people's bodies and putting them on my head to protect my head if they come to shoot us again, if a grenade comes.' Wenkert survived but was forced into a pickup truck, driven into Gaza and hidden underground in a tunnel. His friend Kim Damti, a 22-year-old Irish-Israeli, was killed in or around the shelter. In remarks widely reported in Israel, Wenkert said that he was held in a very small cell for much of his time in captivity, usually in complete darkness. The former restaurant manager described being punched, beaten with an iron bar, spat on and forced to do physical exercises. Mistreatment by his captors was often sparked by events during the war, Wenkert said. 'Every hostage deal that falls through … it brings up a lot of frustration and rage and anger in them ... That's just one of the reasons [for the abuse], also some days when their father is killed, their families, their elders are killed. You feel it. You know exactly what's happening,' Wenkert said. At night, there was 'complete darkness, silence; absolute fear', Wenkert said, saying he spoke to himself out loud for two hours a day in order to 'stay sane.' More than 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the surprise Hamas raid into Israel and 251 taken hostage. In the ensuring Israeli offensive, more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed, also mostly civilians, and much of the territory devastated. After a short-lived truce in November 2023, multiple efforts to secure a further pause in hostilities have failed. There was no independent confirmation of Wenkert's statements, but they match those of many other accounts. Since a ceasefire deal came into effect in mid-January, 25 living Israeli hostages have been freed by Hamas and the remains of eight returned. Israel has freed 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and withdrawn from many of its positions in Gaza. Accounts of mistreatment and the poor physical condition of some released hostages have increased pressure on the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to agree a deal to secure the release of the 59 still held, of whom two-thirds are thought to be dead. The first phase of the ceasefire ended almost 10 days ago, but so far both Israel and Hamas have maintained a fragile de facto truce. There are currently daily Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, which have killed dozens. Israeli military officials say they are targeting militants who threaten their forces. Indirect talks are currently under way in Qatar but the demands of Israel and Hamas are proving difficult to reconcile. Israel has proposed an extension to the first phase of the ceasefire for up to 60 days along with further hostage and prisoner releases. Hamas want a definitive end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
CBS News
22-02-2025
- CBS News
Fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continues as more hostages are released
Hamas has handed over three more Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in the latest exchange under the fragile ceasefire. The three Israeli men in their 20s — Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, and Eliya Cohen — were brought out by masked, armed Hamas fighters to pose on a stage before hundreds of Palestinians in the central town of Nuseirat. They were dressed in fake army uniforms, though they were not soldiers when they were kidnapped. Shem Tov and Wenkert smiled and waved at the crowd. Cohen, Shem Tov and Wenkert were abducted by Hamas fighters at the Nova music festival. Watching the release, Cohen's family and friends in Israel chanted "Eliya! Eliya! Eliya!" and cheered when they saw him for the first time. Shem Tov's grandmother ululated in joy, shrieking, "Omer, my joy! My life!" as she saw him. The three were put in Red Cross vehicles that then headed for Israel. The Israeli military said the three were in their custody, and wound undergo an initial medical assessment. Earlier in the day, two other hostages — identified as Avara Mengistu, 38, who entered Gaza in 2014 and has been held there ever since, and Tal Shoham, 40, who was taken hostage on Oct. 7 — were put into Red Cross vehicles after being brought out onto a stage by masked and armed Hamas fighters in front of a crowd in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Soon after, the Israeli military confirmed that the two had been brought into Israel. "This is an unforgettable moment, where all emotions are rapidly mixing together. Our Tal is with us," Shoham's family said in a statement, calling for a deal the be reached for the release of all those still captive. Shoham's wife, two young children, and three other relatives who were abducted with him were freed in a November 2023 exchange. "There is a window of opportunity; we must not miss it." Mengistu, an Ethiopian-Israeli, had been held in Gaza since entering on his own in 2014. Watching the handover on Israeli media, Mengistu's family broke out into a Hebrew song, "Here is the Light," as they saw him for the first time in more than a decade. A sixth man is also expected to be released Saturday. Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, entered Gaza in 2015 and has been held ever since. More than 600 Palestinians jailed in Israel will be freed in exchange, the Palestinian prisoners media office said Friday. The prisoners set for release include 50 serving life sentences, 60 with long sentences, 47 who were released under a previous hostage-for-prisoner exchange and 445 Palestinians who were seized by Israeli troops in Gaza since the war began. Remains of Shiri Bibas returned, family says The latest hostage exchange is going ahead after tensions mounted over a grisly and heart-wrenching dispute triggered this week when Hamas initially handed over the wrong body for Shiri Bibas, an Israeli mother of two young boys abducted by militants. The remains that Hamas transferred with her sons' bodies on Thursday were later determined to be those of an unidentified Palestinian woman. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge for "a cruel and malicious violation," while Hamas suggested it had been a mistake. On Friday night, the small militant group believed to have been holding Bibas and her sons — the Palestinian Mujahedeen Brigades — said it handed over a second body. On Saturday morning, Bibas' family said Israeli forensic authorities had confirmed the remains were hers. "For 16 months we sought certainty, and now that it's here, it brings no comfort, though we hope it marks the beginning of closure," the family said. The dispute over the body's identity raised new doubt about the ceasefire deal, which has paused over 15 months of war but is nearing the end of its first phase. Negotiations over a second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens more hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal, are likely to be even more difficult. First phase of ceasefire set to end next week Hamas has said it will also release four more bodies next week, completing the first phase of the ceasefire. If that plan is carried out, Hamas would retain about 60 hostages, about half of whom are believed to be alive. Yael Alexander, whose son Edan is thought to be the last living American hostage, said the situation is a "nightmare." "If suddenly they decided 'OK, it's not working, let's stop and that's it, no releases of hostages, this will be a disaster for us the families," Alexander said. The statement from the Bibas family said "there is no more important goal" than the release of the remaining hostages. Hamas has said it won't release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Netanyahu, with the full backing of the Trump administration, says he's committed to destroying Hamas' military and governing capacities and returning all the hostages, goals widely seen as mutually exclusive. Trump's proposal to remove about 2 million Palestinians from Gaza so the U.S. can own and rebuild it has thrown the ceasefire into further doubt. His idea has been welcomed by Netanyahu but universally rejected by Palestinians and Arab countries. Trump said Friday that he was "a little surprised" by rejections of the proposal by Egypt and Jordan and that he would not impose it. "I'll tell you, the way to do it is my plan. I think that's the plan that really works. But I'm not forcing it. I'm just going to sit back and recommend it," Trump said in a Fox News interview. Israel's military offensive killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence. The offensive destroyed vast areas of Gaza, reducing entire neighborhoods to rubble. At its height, the war displaced 90% of Gaza's population. Many have returned to their homes to find nothing left and no way of rebuilding.
