October 7 · Personal story
Omer Shem Tov
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Nova music festival near Re’im, southern Israel
Current outcome
Released alive · February 22, 2025
Released alive after 505 days in captivity and reunited with his parents.
01
Life before October 7
Before October 7, Omer Shem Tov was a young man who had completed compulsory military service and thinking about what would follow. In his account at Harvard Kennedy School, he said he had just completed service, was waiting tables, saving for a trip to South America and dreaming of becoming a DJ. The Associated Press also reported that he worked in a restaurant, spent time with friends and planned travel abroad. Music and friendship were part of the life he described at Nova on October 6, 2023, the night before the attack.
02
Abduction
Omer went to the Nova music festival with friends on October 6. At 6:29 the next morning, sirens interrupted the music. He later described running across open ground while gunfire sounded and hiding before a car came back to help him and two friends. AP reported that militants shot at the car, forced the occupants out and took them into Gaza. In his Harvard account, Omer recalled being dragged from the vehicle, beaten and put into a pickup truck. He had met the driver, Ori Danino, only hours earlier.
03
Captivity
Omer spent 505 days in captivity. He told AP and CBS that he was moved from apartments to an underground tunnel, where darkness was so complete that he sometimes wondered whether he could still see. He said food was extremely scarce and described spending time alone with little contact. In his 2026 Harvard conversation, he recounted trying to keep a routine and holding on to faith and gratitude for small things, including air and the food he received. He also described refusing an order to help attack Israeli soldiers. He later shared those choices and daily experiences so listeners could understand what his captivity had demanded of him.
04
Return
On February 22, 2025, Omer was released alive after 505 days. AP reported that he was among six people freed that day and described his first moments seeing the sky and sun after leaving captivity. He asked an Israeli soldier for a hug, then ran to his parents. His mother had kept his bedroom as he had left it, asking the family not to clean or touch it until he came home. At the reunion, Omer said he had imagined that moment for a long time.
05
After return
Three months after his release, Omer travelled to Boston to speak about the hostages still held in Gaza. AP reported that he threw the first pitch at a Red Sox game and was greeted by schoolchildren at the airport. He described the attention as unfamiliar and at times unsettling, but said he would talk to people because they wanted to show support. His public appearances were tied to a specific purpose: asking people not to forget those still captive. In interviews that spring, he also spoke about how ordinary moments such as eating or taking a shower could remind him of people still in captivity. He described these moments in May 2025 as part of his appeal for the people still held captive.