‘You were sent by God to save us,’ former hostage tells Trump

Ex-hostages recount starvation and torture, beg President Trump not to give up on those still held by Hamas in Gaza.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Omer Shem Tov and other former Hamas hostages who were freed during a recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas called on President Donald Trump to push for a new deal that would secure the release of the remaining captives in Gaza.

“A few days after I was released, I had the honor of meeting President Trump in his office,” Shem Tov said during the press conference in Tel Aviv on Monday evening. “I told him then, and I believe it with all my heart: He was sent by God to help save us.”

Shem Tov urged Trump to “use every tool, with everything you have, bring the rest back. Every day matters. Every life matters.”

“Even for those of us who made it home, the feeling can never be complete while others are still left behind,” he said.

Ex-hostage Keith Siegel echoed Shem Tov’s call, focusing on the horrors he endured during his time in captivity.

In a harrowing statement, Siegel recounted surviving “starvation, dehydration, relentless humiliation.” adding that he “witnessed sexual assault… I saw acts of medieval torture that still haunt me.”

Doron Steinbrecher, who was one of the first three female hostages freed in January 2025, recalled being “trapped in the dark, suffocating tunnels with no daylight, no sense of time, no insurance I would survive another day.”

Addressing Trump, she said, “Please don’t stop. Continue to fight for them, just as you fought for me. Continue to be their voice, just as you gave me mine.”

Naama Levy, a female soldier whose kidnapping on October 7 is one of the most recognizable images from the atrocities that day, said that Trump achieved “what many thought was impossible.” Addressing the president, she said, “We, the survivors, know you are a decisive and irreplaceable force saving lives.”

“Mr. President, please, help bring them home,” she begged.