Omer Shem Tov, who spent 505 days in Hamas captivity after being abducted from the Nova music festival during the October 7th massacre, published a column in The Wall Street Journal criticizing the film NAZA and describing his experiences as a hostage in Gaza in the context of the debate over civilian casualties during the war.
"I know what it's like to be collateral damage. For 505 days, that's what I was," he declared. "The pilots above me didn't know where I was. If an Israeli bomb killed me, Hamas would win twice: I would be dead, and Israel would be responsible."
He said he had not watched the film, which had not been screened in Israel. Based on reports about the production, he described it as focusing on Palestinian civilians killed during the war while keeping the October 7th massacre and the abduction of Israeli hostages "largely outside the frame."
He drew on his own experience in captivity to describe what he saw as the complexities surrounding civilian casualties and Israeli military operations. Shem Tov said Hamas abducted him from the Nova festival and held him in Gaza for 505 days, much of that time in apartments located in areas where fighting was taking place.
In addition to fearing his captors, hunger and the possibility that he would never see his family again, Shem Tov said he also feared being killed in an Israeli strike. He recalled situations in which his captors anticipated Israeli attacks and fled, leaving him behind even though they knew he was a hostage. "Hamas knew where I was and left me to die. Israel didn't know my location, but it knew where my captor's mother was, and called to make sure she wasn't killed accidentally. There I was - kidnapped, starved and tortured by her son - while my army was trying to keep his mother alive. It tried to minimize the collateral damage."
He described Israeli efforts to reduce civilian casualties, including the distribution of leaflets, warnings through messages and phone calls, and evacuation orders. Shem Tov also recounted Hamas's reaction to the attacks once they came: "I was terrified. The terrorist next to me was thrilled, saying 'Look what we made Israel do. Look how much we hurt them.' I understood something then - for Hamas, destruction itself could be victory. As long as there was death on either side, Hamas can win.""
Shem Tov acknowledged that the death of a Palestinian child is not diminished by statistics or military considerations. At the same time, he argued that discussions of civilian casualties should also take into account the measures Israel undertook in an effort to reduce the number of civilian deaths. "If Israel had cared less about collateral damage, perhaps I would have come home sooner. Fewer Israeli soldiers might have died. Fewer hostages might have died. But more Palestinians would have," he wrote.
He also addressed the film's reception at the Venice Film Festival, where it received the Special Jury Prize. Reports that the film received a standing ovation lasting more than 24 minutes were particularly difficult for him. "As a former hostage, those minutes felt like a shower of knives," he wrote.
"Palestinian suffering in Gaza is real and deserves to be seen. The film sees the suffering in Gaza, but not what brought the war there: Hamas's planning, the murder of families on October 7, the people dragged from their homes and a music festival."