Tal Shoham, who returned to Israel after 505 days in Hamas captivity, spoke about the suffering in the tunnels, the hunger and despair, the rare moments of hope, and the painful separation from Guy Gilboa Dalal and Evyatar David, who remain in captivity.
In an interview with Kan Reshet Bet, Shehem recounted the extreme conditions he endured and the friends he left behind.
"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," he said.
Shoham described the inhumane conditions of captivity: "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." He said it took weeks before he could breathe freely and feel alive again.
For him, the main struggle was simply surviving each day. "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."
He recalled a rare moment of hope when he received a letter from his wife after her release with their children: "One of the commanders, who had been my guard for the first three days and was in contact with my wife’s and children’s guards, must have taken a liking to us. 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 described his release day in detail, including the sudden separation from Guy and Evyatar: "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. After a large meal, unexpectedly, they woke us early. They took us to another room inside the tunnel system we had never been in, because this time they didn’t allow us to see outside. In that room, they served us a large tray of rice and meat—of course, in front of the cameras—and we ate with the senior commander of that team, drank coffee, and returned to our tunnel, thinking we had three more days together. But 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."
Shoham described the first moments after release, including a hot shower and an emotional reunion with his family.
In closing, he sent a message to his friends still in captivity: "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."