Former Hostage Urges Trump and Netanyahu to Act

Every morning, there are moments when I momentarily forget the ordeal I endured. But the silence, the darkness, and the damp concrete walls quickly remind me of the 505 days I spent as a hostage in a Hamas tunnel. Beside me were Evyatar David and Guy Dalal, two young men who remain captive. Along with Omer Wenkert, we endured eight and a half months in a cramped, subterranean space, sharing a single pita daily and whispering stories to keep our sanity intact. Strangers at first, we became brothers in captivity.

More than 100 days have passed since President Trump’s return to the White House and the ceasefire that secured my release, along with Omer and dozens of others. Every breath of fresh air, every sunlit step, and every quiet moment with my family feels like a gift. Time, once a mere abstraction, now feels precious, a stark reminder of the brutality faced by those still in captivity.

I was not a soldier when I was kidnapped on October 7 from my in-laws’ home in Kibbutz Be’eri. My wife and children were with me, and when terrorists breached our safe room, I was forced into the trunk of a car and paraded through Gaza. Before we were separated, I looked into my nine-year-old son’s terrified eyes and made a choice no parent should ever face: I told him the truth—that I didn’t know if we would survive. For 50 agonizing days, I had no knowledge of my family’s fate. It was a flicker of hope when I learned in November that they were about to be released.

Evyatar and Guy, both 22, were taken from the Nova music festival, where their friends were slaughtered. By the time we met in captivity, they were in terrible condition—starved, handcuffed, and terrified. Yet, they held onto their spirit, and during our eight and a half months together, they found the strength to endure.

Our captors did not see us as human. They tortured us for amusement, sometimes lighting paper on fire to deplete the tunnel’s oxygen, forcing us to lie on the floor to avoid suffocation. We created daily rituals to maintain our identities in a place designed to break us. We became a unit, a family, holding each other up in the face of unimaginable adversity.

When I emerged from that tunnel in February, I vowed to speak for those who couldn’t. President Trump, your administration’s decision to prioritize the hostages helped bring many of us home. But we are not done. Fifty-nine hostages remain in Hamas captivity, and every passing day makes their survival more precarious.

Hamas did not release us out of goodwill; they responded to international pressure and relentless advocacy. I urge you, President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, to renew that effort to bring every hostage home—both the living and the dead. However, expanding military operations in Gaza is not the solution. Every step deeper into this war feels like a step further away from bringing Evyatar and Guy home alive. We must not let military momentum overshadow moral clarity. They are not statistics; they are sons, friends, music lovers—gentle, funny, full of life. They deserve to walk in the sun again. They deserve a future.

I have seen the darkness and felt the weight of airless days, hunger, and silence. But I also know what it means to breathe again. President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu made that possible for me. Now, please—bring them home too. Let them breathe again.

The international community must rally behind this cause, ensuring that the voices of the captives are heard and that their families are not forgotten. The plight of these hostages is a stark reminder of the ongoing conflict and the urgent need for a peaceful resolution. Until then, every effort must be made to secure the release of those still held captive, ensuring that they, too, can experience the freedom and dignity that they deserve.