October 7 · Personal story
Omer Wenkert
Abducted
October 7, 2023
Abduction location
Nova music festival area near Re’im, southern Israel
Current outcome
Released alive · February 22, 2025
Released alive after 505 days in captivity.
01
Life before October 7
Before his abduction, Omer lived in Gedera and worked at Nina Bianca restaurant. The Jerusalem Post reported that he hoped to become a restaurant critic and was enrolled to study restaurant management at Shenkar College. In November 2023, his father Shay showed members of the European Parliament a video of Omer, according to Russian-language Euronews.
02
Abduction
Omer was at the Nova festival area when rocket sirens sounded around 6:30 a.m. on October 7, 2023. In his first interview after release, reported by The Jerusalem Post from an N12 conversation, he said he ran to a shelter and later heard gunfire. He remembered the last clock time he saw, 7:29, before people shouted that attackers had arrived. He described smoke, heat and explosions in the shelter and said a young woman threw a grenade away from him. When an attacker told him to come out, Omer understood he was being kidnapped. He looked toward cameras in the hope that a picture would show his family he was alive.
03
Captivity
In his first post-release interview with N12, reported by The Jerusalem Post in March 2025, Wenkert described darkness, silence and fear underground. He said food and water were scarce and that he spoke aloud to himself for two hours a day to keep going. When Liam Or was released in November 2023, his captors promised that he would soon go home too; instead, he remained captive for another 452 days. He recalled being confined alone in a tiny room for months before other hostages joined him. He asked them for a hug and described sharing their limited food to avoid arguments.
04
Return
Wenkert was released alive on February 22, 2025, after 505 days. He was taken to Beilinson Hospital, where he later recalled receiving close friends a few days after his return, including Adi Taub. In his first post-release interview, he recalled seeing fellow captives Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal in a Hamas van at the release ceremony, smiling faintly and waving goodbye. He said he could not stop thinking about those still held, knowing the conditions they faced. He described his own release as a victory after a long struggle.
05
After return
After returning, Omer spoke about the future he wanted to build. In his first post-release interview, he said he hoped to create a family and become a father, while also pledging not to rest until every hostage was home. A December 2025 Ynet profile later described him reconnecting with Adi Taub, a close friend who became his partner; its headline quotes him saying that after release he knew he wanted a family. His return to Gedera also brought him back to a community and family business that had continued to matter during captivity.