Wenkert: “There were no vitamins, no minerals. Only simple carbs, like pita and rice.”
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
At an Israel Bar Association conference in Eilat, released hostage Omer Wenkert described how his Hamas captors would deliberately starve him and put him in danger “for fun.”
Wenkert said he had access to a mirror only three times during his captivity and was shocked to notice how skinny he had become.
“I kept telling Guy [Gilboa Dalal] and Eviatar [David], ‘I’m not that skinny.’ They said that my bones were visible,” he said.
Gilboa Dalal and David are still held hostages in Gaza, where 58 hostages remain, 20 of whom are believed to be still alive.
Wenkert said conditions became worse during the Rafah operation in 2024.
“They deliberately starved us. The captors put my life in danger for fun. One brought in a bottle of pest spray, made me stand in the corner, and sprayed it in my face while forcing my eyes open. He made sure that everything I touched would be covered in the spray,” he said.
Wenkert said he was usually given only a pita and rice. On rare occasions, the pita contained fava beans or cheese, but usually, “there were no vitamins, no minerals. Only simple carbs, like pita and rice,” he said.
“I can count on two fingers the times I ate anything that wasn’t empty carbs,” he added.
The availability of water depended on how diplomacy was working with Israel and availability.
“We were underground the entire time, and the temperature kept increasing. There is no air, it is hard to breathe. You don’t really feel winter or summer,” he said.
Wenkert’s mother, Niva, said she was shocked mainly by how pale he appeared.
‘It was difficult to see him so thin, but the paleness was the hardest – we saw everything there: The humiliation and the abuse, the eyes told us everything, and the body bore witness to the abuse,” she said.
When Wenkert had access to a full body mirror, he observed how thin he was and described being unable to choose a shirt while at home “because I didn’t want my parents to worry more.”
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