Jewish faith, unity, and resilience helped Israeli hostages survive Hamas terror tunnels against all odds..
In a rare and deeply moving interview on Channel 12 News, anchor Yaron Avraham spoke with six former Israeli hostages who shared firsthand accounts of surviving prolonged captivity inside Hamas terror tunnels in Gaza.
Former hostages Ohad Ben-Ami, Bar Kupershtein, Elkanah Bohbot, Segev Kalfon, Maxim Herkin, and Yosef Haim Ohana described how bonds of brotherhood, faith, and shared identity helped them endure physical deprivation and psychological torment.
Ohana recalled the first Shabbat the group observed together, shortly after six of them were reunited in the same tunnel. With no ritual items, they improvised—placing paper on their heads as makeshift kippot and singing familiar Shabbat melodies from home. As their voices grew stronger, the underground space shook. “It felt right that we were together,” Ohana said.
Kupershtein described the moment as one of the most powerful experiences of their captivity, a rare instance of spiritual freedom in a place designed to break them.
Ben-Ami later reflected that shared faith gave meaning to their survival. Each had narrowly escaped death during the October 7 massacre. “We felt maybe there was a reason we were still alive,” he said. “That we were meant to survive.”
Kalfon said faith became central underground, even sewing improvised kippot from Ben-Ami’s robe. Ben-Ami, a secular kibbutz resident, said the experience transformed him. “I felt I had to say thank you—for food, for water, for life,” he said. “They taught me how.”
When asked about faith after October 7, Herkin rejected attempts to shift blame away from human responsibility. “What happened was the result of human choices,” he said. “You don’t place that on God.”
Their testimonies stand as a powerful indictment of Hamas’ brutality—and a testament to the spiritual resilience that terror could not extinguish.
