Starvation, Torture, and a Secret Letter: Ex-Hostage Shares His Story

Tal Shoham, released after 505 days in Hamas captivity, opened up about the gruelling ordeal he faced in Gaza’s tunnels, the glimmer of hope from a letter, and the heartbreak of leaving behind fellow hostages Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David. In an interview with Kan Reshet Bet, Shoham described the brutal conditions and his ongoing fight for those still held captive.

“Every morning, I am grateful to wake up at home with my children and my wife, Adi. We got our lives back. But every morning I wake up with Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Evyatar David on my mind. After the video Hamas released a few weeks ago, the horrific images, the extreme hunger they inflicted on Evyatar, and I believe also on Guy, haunt me. I only wish for the moment they return home together with all the other hostages,” Shoham said. He detailed the inhumane conditions: “The experience itself, being in a narrow tunnel, without air, without oxygen, in extreme humidity, without a shower, in filth, under torture and abuse, is very hard to put into words.” Survival was his daily battle, taking weeks post-release to feel alive again. “I told Guy and Evyatar many times that our role there wasn’t to rescue ourselves or worry about a deal or end the war, it was simply to survive each day. Nothing else mattered down there, unlike now, where life is different for me.”

A rare moment of hope came 50 days into his captivity when a guard, who had overseen Shoham’s initial days and was in contact with his family’s captors, delivered a letter from his wife, Adi. “As a gesture of goodwill, he decided to pass me a letter from her saying they had been kidnapped but that everyone, including women and children, were set to be released. He threatened that if I told anyone, he would kill me. I could read it once, then he took it back. But that was all I needed. It gave me so much,” Shoham recalled. This news, confirming his family’s safety, gave him strength to endure.

Shoham recounted the rushed separation from Guy and Evyatar on his release day, February 22, 2025. “That day, we already knew that Omer and I were going to be released. They told us they would come for us on Friday, it was Tuesday. So we thought we had a few more days to say goodbye,” he said. After a staged meal for propaganda, the release was abruptly accelerated. “After about two hours, they said we had to leave immediately. So we had to part in a rush. I told them I loved them, not to lose hope, that soon they would be home. But at the same time, there was a feeling, something I had heard in Holocaust stories, of family and friends parting, knowing they might never see each other again. It was very rushed. There wasn’t much time to think, because immediately after they blindfolded us and we ran through the tunnel corridors. Guy and Evyatar stayed behind.”

Post-release, Shoham cherished a hot shower and reuniting with his family, but his thoughts remain with those still captive. “Guy, Evyatar, if you hear me now, don’t lose hope. I know the situation is difficult and seems impossible, and you may be in deep despair from how things have gone until now, but we haven’t forgotten you. We are fighting for you, and I so hope that soon we can meet again and this whole nightmare will be behind you. I hope all the hostages can return home to their loved ones and that we can finally begin to heal this bleeding wound,” he said.

The October 7, 2023, attack saw Shoham and his family kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri. His wife and children were freed in November 2023, but Shoham endured 16 months of starvation, losing 64 pounds, and torture. His story highlights the ongoing plight of the estimated 24 hostages still alive in Gaza, underscoring the urgent need for international action.