Former Hamas hostage Omer Shem Tov, who endured 505 days in captivity after being abducted from the Supernova music festival during the October 7th massacre, spoke about his ordeal at the Turning Point USA's AmericaFest conference.

"One moment I was dancing with my friends and the next I was at the back of a pickup truck being dragged into Gaza. I spent 505 days underground in terror tunnels. There was no fresh air, no sunlight, no sense of time. Just darkness, pitch black 24 hours a day. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. At one point, I thought that I had gone blind."

Shem Tov spoke of the physical and emotional toll: "The hunger was constant. I was weak, dehydrated, and starving. Many days all I had was a single cracker and few drops of salty water. But the hardest part was the loneliness. Some hostages were held together. I wasn't. For more than a year, I did not see another hostage. No voices, no faces, no human connection. Just silence, darkness, and fear."

Omer said that he found God even in such a bleak place: "Before my captivity, I had never really spoken to God before. But alone in that darkness, I began to pray. Every day, I spoke to him. I whispered, 'God, how are you? How was your day? Are you okay?' And in that darkness, I felt His presence. I thanked Him for everything. For the food even though there was almost none. For the water even when it was salty. For my life even though it was in danger every single day."

Although he was not rescued, he heard the IDF fighting directly above him. "About 100 days into my captivity, the IDF fought just above me. And when they moved on, they left behind books. My captors brought them to me."

Among the discarded books, he found something that lent him strength for his ordeal: "I found a small card with Psalm 20 - 'Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.' I didn't know it then, but while I was whispering those words in Gaza, my mother was reciting the same psalm in my bedroom in Israel, praying for my return. The psalm continues, 'Lord, answer us when we call.' God answered us. In those tunnels, I found God and He saved me."

Omer reminded the crowd that the fight was not his, but everyone's. "What I experienced is not just my story. It is a part of a much larger fight. We have seen these same radical terrorists commit violence in Israel, in Europe, not long ago, just last week in Australia and even here in the United States, including the attack in Washington DC where two national guardsmen were shot. This is the evil we're fighting. This is not a distant conflict. These are terrorists who attack freedom wherever freedom is undefended."

He quoted Charlie Kirk, who founded Turning Point: "Charlie Kirk of blessed memory once said, 'Israel is a civilized country. Hamas are savage animals.' Take it from someone who spent 505 days as their hostage. He was right. They are savage animals."

Shem Tov reserved special thanks for President Trump: "I can tell you something else about the terrorists who held me captive. There was one man they feared the most: President Donald Trump. When he was elected, the way they treated me changed completely. They were terrified of him. And I want to state this clearly so the whole world hears it now. On behalf of the hostages, our families, and our nation, thank you, President Donald Trump, for our freedom. He fought for us. He brought us home. When he met us at the White House, he promised to bring home the remaining hostages, living and dead, in one deal. And he kept that promise. I told him he was sent by God and I thank him."

"Thank you to everyone who prayed for us, who stood for truth because this fight is between good and evil. A fight against terrorists who turn hospitals into torture chambers, schools into military bases, who murder young people at a music festival, who kill Jews because they're Jewish, and Christians because they're Christians. This evil is spreading. But when I stand here with you today, I feel strong because we're united. We are free and together we will defeat evil. I stand here not as a victim but as a witness. A witness to what faith can build, to what resilience can sustain, to what happens when a person and a nation refuse to surrender."