Two years ago, on October 7, 2023, I was abducted from my house in Kibbutz Be’eri in my pajamas by Hamas terrorists. My wife, Raz, and I were torn from our lives and dragged to Gaza. I was released in February 2025 after 491 days in captivity, but 48 hostages remain in the hands of Hamas. My nightmare is not over yet. It won’t be over if they all come home.
And now, finally, there is hope. President Donald Trump has produced a historic deal to bring all 48 hostages home – the living and the deceased – to end this war, to end this suffering for our people. After so much pain we finally have a real chance.
But fear comes with that hope. We have seen opportunities rather. The deal has not yet been signed. I know what’s at stake. I know what those hostages will continue to exist at the moment because I have lived it.
Liberated American-Israeli hostage broker Details starvation and abuse by Hamas while families Pushen Trump for Deal
President Donald Trump meets Israeli hostages Ohad Ben Ami and his wife, Raz, together with families of hostages who are still in the hands of Hamas terrorists in Gaza on September 2025. (The White House)
Two years have passed since Hamas terrorists invaded our houses, killed hundreds of innocent people and kill men, women, children and the elderly. That Shabbat morning started like any other. Towards the end of the day, Raz and I were hostages.
When Raz was released in November 2023, I thought my turn might come soon. Instead, I was taken to the tunnels – 30 meters underground, in total darkness, without air, hardly any food or water, no medical care. This became my life for more than a year.
The moment Ohhad Ben Ami was abducted on October 7, 2023 by Hamas terrorists from his house in Israel. (The Hogtages Families Forum)
I wasn’t alone there. I was held with five other hostages: Elkana Bohbot, Maksym Harkin, Segev Kalfon, Yosef Ohana and Bar Kupershtein. They became sons for me and I became a father figure for them. We needed each other to survive. The six of us shared a cell intended for three. We dug with our bare hands in the dirt to make places to sleep. Every request from our abductors required hours of discussion among each other because the consequences were serious. Ask for pita bread and is refused? They would beat us. Forbid us for two weeks to ask for something. So we considered carefully, everyone had a voice and we voted.
I was afraid of my life every day. Hamas clearly told us: if the IDF comes close, they will shoot us at a point-blank range. Once a terrorist forced me to decide which hostages a bullet would get in the head and which in the knee. For hours they let us beg for our lives, shaking and crying. On day 270, terrorists stormed in and struck us three days in a row. A guard told me: “I hate you. If they recommend me to kill you, I will not use a gun. I will use a knife.” As time went, we started to lose hope. That is when survival becomes almost impossible. What gave me strength was to see our people fight again for us.
Hamas terrorists guard Ohhad Ben Ami on a stage before handing him to a Red Cross team in Deir El-Balah, Central Gaza, on 8 February 2025, as part of the fifth hostage-prison exchange of a fragile cease-fire. (Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty images)
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I was released in February 2025. I had lost 77 pounds. In those first days of freedom everything felt unreal. But a moment stands out: I had the deep honor to meet President Trump, the man who saved me, who made it possible to be reunited with my wife and daughters. He expressed his not -repellent dedication to bring all hostages home. I thank him for my freedom and for never giving up those who are still in captivity. If someone earns the Nobel Prize for Peace, it is, for everything he has done for us and for continuing to fight to ensure that all hostages come back home.
But freedom does not mean that the nightmare is over. I still wake up at night and touch the walls and check if they are not concrete, that I am not in the tunnels. But then I remember – they are still there. When I open the fridge and switch off food, I think of how they have nothing.
Ohhad Ben Ami is reunited with his family, including daughters Ella and Yuli, after being held for 491 days by Hamas terrorists in Gaza before his release of 8 February 2025. (GPO)
In a cruel propaganda video that was released by Hamas months ago, Elkana and Yosef spoke directly against me and begged me to do everything I can to get them out of hell. Until all 48 hostages come out – the living and the deceased – I cannot continue with my life.
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Since my release I have witnessed many negotiations. This time it has to happen. The world must ensure that this deal flourishes. I know better than anyone else’s costs in captivity. They won’t come in much longer there. My friends won’t make it much longer there. I lived 491 days on Hamas’ cruelty. I know exactly what every extra hour means for those who are still underground.
The release of all 48 hostages must come first. The world looks. Every day is important. Every hour counts.
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