‘They took everything but my will to live’: Alon Ohel details torture in Gaza

Former Israeli hostage Alon Ohel has shared a harrowing account of the two years he spent in Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip. In an interview with Channel N12, the 22-year-old reflected on his abduction during the October 7 massacre, the abuse he endured, and the internal battle that helped him survive.

Ohel was kidnapped while fleeing the Nova music festival. He recalls being thrown into a pickup truck “like a sack of potatoes” and transported within seconds across the border into Gaza. Wounded in the face and body, he describes arriving at a Gaza hospital where he faced a hostile crowd and underwent surgery in what he called inhumane conditions.

Throughout his captivity, he says he suffered psychological abuse, threats, severe food deprivation, and episodes of sexual harassment. “They played with the food and with us,” he said, recounting forced showers and inappropriate touching.

In the early weeks, he was held in complete silence at the bottom of a tunnel, tied up, starving, and pushed, he says, into an “animal-like” state. Several times he believed he would die, but he clung to the hope of seeing his mother again. 

“I never stopped choosing life,” he said. Ohel also spoke about the connections formed with fellow hostages, particularly Eli Sharabi, who became a father figure to him. He described scenes of breakdown and despair, but also moments of solidarity that he believes helped keep him alive.

He recalls the intensity of Israeli airstrikes on Hamas positions, the frantic attempts to flee through destroyed buildings, and the repeated belief that Israeli forces were moments away from rescuing them. Several hostages were taken away during these periods. whom he initially assumed were being freed, only to learn later that they had been killed.

After two years in captivity, Ohel was unexpectedly told he would be released. Escorted by the International Committee of the Red Cross, he eventually saw Israeli soldiers waiting for him. His return, he says, was not marked by outward emotion; he wanted his loved ones to see that he had come back “standing tall.”

Today, despite the trauma, Alon Ohel refuses to let his experience define him. “They took everything from me except my ability to choose who I am,” he said. “I will move forward. I will conquer the world.”