Hostage Kiddush in Hamas Captivity: Omer Shem-Tov Story | JP

Among the most harrowing periods of Shem-Tov’s captivity was a 50-day stretch spent alone in a tunnel in absolute darkness. “I was in a tunnel in complete darkness for 50 days,” he described. “I would turn on a small flashlight once a day just to know I could still see. Those were the most critical 50 days of captivity.”

The isolation was extreme. “I was starving, completely cut off from the world,” he told Kan Reshet Bet. “I wasn’t with other hostages during that time, and not with captors either. The darkness is very difficult at first, but slowly you go through a process with yourself. You put your ego aside and accept the situation.”

The cell itself was severely restrictive. “On the first day in darkness you simply suffocate and don’t know what to do and can’t see anything,” he said. “The cell was so small you couldn’t stand up in it and couldn’t spread your arms to the sides. I wasn’t allowed to shout, so one of the things I wrote on my list of what I wanted to do when I got home was to scream.”