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A former Israeli hostage held in captivity for over 500 days by Hamas claimed some of his captors once held ordinary, everyday jobs.
In the run-up to the remaining hostage release Oct. 13, Tal Shoham spoke candidly to reporters from southern Israel.
He described what struck him most, as well as the cruelty some guards inflicted on him and others.
“One of the guards was a first-grade teacher, another was a lecturer at a university, and another was a doctor. These are normal people becoming terrorists,” he said, per The Times of Israel.
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Tal Shoham, a former hostage who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, 2023, with his wife and two children as well as three other members of his family, was held in Gaza for 505 days. (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
He also said that most of them were “not soldiers,” he told the outlet.
Interestingly, despite the “torture and cruelty” he described, Shoham said they were “so brainwashed and full of hate,” but for some of them, it didn’t seem to originate from religious motives.
“Some of them were religious, but some were only there because this is the popular thing to do. They can take all sadistic thoughts and actions not just against Israelis but also Gazans,” he added during the interview from Kibbutz Beeri.
He also told how one Hamas guard shot a Gazan man in the knees because he “looked suspicious,” and later, when the man was being treated by medics, he was killed because “they decided that he should die.”
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Tal Shoham was released by Hamas in February. (REUTERS/Hatem Khaled)
Shoham, who was abducted from Kibbutz Beeri on Oct. 7 with his wife, two young children and other relatives, was not freed with them in November 2023 but was finally released in February.
His release came during a small Qatari and Egyptian brokered deal that freed several remaining Israeli civilians in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Shoham also said he was starved and survived on only 200 to 300 calories a day while held in the tunnels as Hamas captors boasted about stealing humanitarian aid.
“I saw with my own eyes that they stole boxes and boxes and boxes of humanitarian aid from Egypt, from Turkey, from the Emirates, but they didn’t agree to give us any of this food in the tunnels,” he said.
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Some Hamas captors had everyday jobs before, says a former Israeli hostage. (REUTERS/Mohammed Salem)
Shoham said being in captivity “forced me to go inward.”
“Only a few people mattered to me, my family and a few close friends,” he said, adding that hearing of his wife and children’s release on the 50th day of their captivity was “tremendous” in helping him get through his ordeal.
“I have a lot of gratitude for life. My faith in humanity and in God only increased. It is much more spiritual and religious than before.”
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The last 20 remaining living hostages were released on Monday as part of the historic Gaza peace deal brokered by President Donald Trump.
Under the terms of the agreement, Hamas was obligated to return all 28 bodies of dead captives as well. However, the terror group has failed to do so – a clear violation of the deal. Hamas claimed on Thursday that the process of returning the bodies would take time because the bodies were buried in tunnels and remain under rubble.