On Oct. 6, 2023, Omer Shem Tov and his family were celebrating his mother's birthday.
asserted
Tov → celebrate → birthday
Less than 24 hours later, Hamas terrorists kidnapped Shem Tov from the Nova Music Festival and held him hostage in Gaza for 505 days.
asserted
terrorists → kidnap → days
Nearly three years later, Shem Tov is telling his story while trying to regain his sense of self.
asserted
Tov → tell → self
In a conversation with Fox News Digital, Shem Tov recalled that when Hamas' attack started at 6:29 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2023, people at the festival took precautions, but were not panicked.
asserted
people → recall → precautions
He explained that "in Israel, we're very used to it."
asserted
we → explain → it
Thinking that the aerial attack was the only thing coming, festival goers, including Shem Tov and his friends, began packing up and heading to their cars to drive home.
asserted
goers → think → cars
However, many of them never made it home and, as in Shem Tov's case, some came back much later.
asserted
some → make → case
In his book, "Light From the Darkness," Shem Tov recounts his experience of the attacks and throughout his time as a hostage in Gaza.
asserted
Tov → recount → Gaza
He also opened up about having taken ecstasy shortly before the attacks began.
asserted
attacks → open → ecstasy
"In my book, I talk about it, first of all, very openly, because I mean I want people to understand that I'm just like any other 20-year-old," Shem Tov told Fox News Digital.
asserted
Tov → talk → Digital
"I wanted to party.
asserted
I → want → ?
I wanted to have fun."
asserted
I → want → fun
Shem Tov explained to Fox News Digital that he felt that the ecstasy, combined with his adrenaline, actually helped him "run faster and without stopping" as the attack began.
asserted
attack → explain → adrenaline
He said that the feeling disappeared suddenly as terrorists got closer and began firing at him and his friends.
asserted
terrorists → say → him
Hours after being taken into Gaza, Shem Tov felt the effects again.
asserted
Tov → take → effects
He said it was "a very scary feeling."
asserted
it → say → ?
The first 50 days of his captivity were spent in total darkness, in a cage so small he could not stand up or spread out his arms.
uncertain
he → spend → arms
Shem Tov, who is an asthmatic, said he had trouble breathing in the tiny space and that he was "starved in the most extreme way."
asserted
he → say → way
"I was in complete darkness, I couldn't see anything, and I just went crazy," Shem Tov told Fox News Digital, adding that in his mind, he was blaming God and "everyone else" for what had happened.
asserted
what → see → God
"After a week, I got to a point where I realized that God has created me with the power of free will.
asserted
God → get → will
I can choose to do whatever I want.
asserted
I → choose → whatever
I can choose to believe, I can choose not to believe.
asserted
I → choose → ?
I can choose between good and bad and evil."
asserted
I → choose → good
"I realized that I have two choices: Either I sink into depression and I blame everyone and God for everything that happened to me and I just sink deeper and deeper until eventually I think that I would have just died of depression and broken heart, or either I look at the situation, and I try to make something good in some way out of it," he said.
asserted
he → realize → it
While in complete darkness, Shem Tov said he was "crying to God" and telling Him, "God, from now on I trust you and I know that I'm in the right place, in the right time.
asserted
I → say → time
This is exactly where I am supposed to be, and I'm in your hands from now on.
asserted
I → suppose → hands
Do as you wish, do as you will.
asserted
you → do → ?
"
"From that moment on, I just saw light.
asserted
I → see → light
I really did see light in complete darkness," he added.
asserted
he → see → darkness
While in captivity, Shem Tov faced extreme pressure from his captors, yet he refused to break even under the threat of death.
asserted
he → face → death
When they ordered him to detonate traps against advancing Israel Defense Forces soldiers, he flatly refused.
asserted
he → order → soldiers
Even when his captors threatened to shoot him on the spot, Shem Tov held his ground and dared them to pull the trigger.
asserted
Tov → threaten → trigger
"There was some kind of red line that I cannot cross.
asserted
I → be → that
I will just, I will not do it," Shem Tov told Fox News Digital.
asserted
Tov → do → Digital
Maybe I would fight for my brothers and my sisters that were hostages.
asserted
that → fight → brothers
So, that was my red line and I just couldn't do it, and I preferred to die than do it."
asserted
I → do → it
On Feb. 22, 2025, after enduring 505 days as a hostage, Shem Tov returned to Israel in a prisoners-for-hostages exchange between Israel and Hamas and was reunited with his family.
asserted
Tov → endure → family
He spent months advocating for the hostages still left in the Gaza Strip.
asserted
He → spend → Strip
The last of the living hostages were released on Oct. 13, 2025.
asserted
last → live → Oct.
Shem Tov still travels to tell his story and speaks out against what he sees as a dangerous narrative gap in how the war is portrayed abroad.
asserted
war → travel → gap
…and 27 more, not listed.
The Aporia
