Freed Israeli hostage speaks for the first time about his 505 days of surviving Hamas hell

After being abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, Tal Shoham endured starvation, torture and torment in a Hamas tunnel. Freed on Feb. 22, he recalls the horrors, his buried family and his fight to stay human.

He would spend the eight-and-a-half months in an underground tunnel and another five months captive in five different houses deep inside Gaza, where his captors kept him shackled, starved him and deprived him of basic human comforts. Efrat Lachter is an investigative reporter and war correspondent. Her work has taken her to 40 countries, including Ukraine, Russia, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, and Afghanistan. She is a recipient of the 2024 Knight-Wallace Fellowship for Journalism. Lachter can be followed on X @efratlachter.

But he gave himself a mission: He was determined not to lose his humanity. Even in moments when he feared that he was facing death, he tried to stay focused. "I am not a victim. Even if this ends, I will end it with my head high, looking death in the eyes. They won’t break me, and I will not surrender to self-pity. We are stronger than the other side," he said.