Omer Wenkert, just returned from Hamas captivity, outlined the traumatic ordeal of hostage-hood and the psychological toll it had taken. In an interview with Channel 12 news on March 12, Wenkert shared with the audience the captives’ dynamics, telling them that he knew when Israel-Hamas peace talks had hit a snag. The Palestinian militant organization had a habit of unleashing their rage on the hostages, particularly when a ceasefire deal fell through or one of their leading operatives was taken out.
Though isolated from the outside world at the time of his ordeal, Wenkert was influenced by significant events. “Every deal that fell through would generate a lot of frustration, anger, and fury,” he remembered, referring to the psychological stress experienced by hostages.
Wenkert recalled being treated inhumanely by his captors in retaliation for their losses. “They would beat us, spit at us, and require us to do severe physical exercises,” he remembered, citing the reason why these things were done as one of humiliation. He admitted to having been physically broken while in captivity, the direct consequence of the inhuman treatment handed out to him by his captors.
His journey to captivity began on a surprising note when he traveled with a friend to the Nova music festival. Wenkert did not expect the ordeal to be brief because he was expecting a few terrorists to be apprehended by the Israeli Defense Forces. Panic, however, set in as the sound of gunfire echoed. “When I checked my watch last, it was 7:29 a.m. Then a voice shouted, ‘Get in! Get in! There are terrorists!’ And then I heard the shout of ‘Allahu Akbar,’ then a blast,” he said.
Wenkert remembered how, at some point, one of the terrorists reassured him that he would not be harmed. “I was watching them coming towards me and I wet myself,” he confessed.
While in captivity, Wenkert was led to believe that he would be released shortly after the first ceasefire-hostage pact. However, with faltering talks, he was confined in a cramped one-square-meter cell, always reminded of the war raging on and that of the hostages caught inside it.
