Survivor of Hamas captivity Omer Wenkert, who was released last Saturday after 505 days in captivity, published a video on Instagram of him dancing with his father.
Together with the video, he wrote: "It happened. I'm free! Freedom is priceless and I almost couldn't remember how sweet and nice it is. I'm usually a man of words. Today I have none. 505 days of a heroic fight, I'm proud to say - 'I beat captivity.' And now I'm starting on a new path! It's confusing, complicated, complex, crazy, happy, exhausting, complex, uplifting, different, powerful, and tremendous! And this path? All parts of this path are me regaining life and freedom. Now it's good."
Wenkert was released last Saturday together with Hisham al-Sayed, Eliya Cohen, Avera Mengistu, Tal Shoham, and Omer Shem Tov. During his 505 days in captivity, he was held in tunnels and underwent torture, physical violence, psychological abuse, and starvation.
Wenkert lost 30 kg of his body weight during his time in Hamas's hell. During his captivity, he met other hostages, and upon his return, relayed signs of life from them. Omer Wenkert was not at all exposed to the media, and only after being released did he discover that his girlfriend, Kim Damti, was murdered in the October 7th Massacre.
After he was released, his mother, Niva Wenkert, shared a moving post about her first moments reunited with her son after he returned to Israel. "A small story that shows how big Omer is - immediately after the first hug at Re'im (the initial meeting place in Israel) when the crying and excitement calmed down, Omer said to me: 'Mom, I brought you something from the duty-free,' and pulled out halva," Niva wrote and added a picture of the confection that she received from her son.