Every day, from 5 a.m. to midnight, the guards holding Israeli hostage Tal Shoham used an electric demolition hammer to dig further into the soft Gaza clay, Shoham revealed in a recent interview with ABC . Released last month during the first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Shoham explained that the tunnel-building teams worked in nine-hour shifts. Since the terrorist organization's surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Hamas has survived Israel's heavy airstrikes by expanding its intricate network of tunnels under Gaza, known to Israeli officials as "the Metro." For over 200 days, Shoham and three other hostages were confined to a 120-square-foot tunnel shaft, nearly half of the 505 days he spent in Hamas captivity. Shoham recounted being led on a two-and-a-half-hour walk through this sprawling underground system, which Hamas claimed connected northern and southern Gaza. He was astounded by the vastness of the tunnels. Shoham was told by his captors that it was possible to walk for five days from Gaza City in the north to Rafah in the south, with new branches being dug every day. Hamas took great pride in this extensive tunnel network. Around day 300 of his captivity, Shoham was dressed as a Gazan man and escorted through the streets of Gaza to an ambulance, which transported him into a tunnel. He was blindfolded and taken deeper underground, where his captors revealed a massive improvised explosive device designed to collapse the tunnel in the event of an Israeli assault. As he descended deeper, the air became oppressive—damp, thin, and stifling. Shoham was told he was being taken to a doctor, but instead, he found himself in a 50-foot-long, 3-foot-wide tunnel, 60 feet underground, with three other hostages. The four men spent nearly a year there, sleeping head-to-toe, using the tunnel for basic bodily functions, and nursing injuries from their beatings. At one point, they were given a deck of cards, but the tunnel was so narrow that only two could play at a time. Shoham took a month to adapt to the lack of oxygen and the claustrophobic space. The smell of food from the air-conditioned guards’ room wafted into their tiny space, intensifying their suffering. Desperation led to talks of suicide, but the captors installed cameras to monitor them, and the hostages were given a single set of plastic utensils, which they never cleaned with water. Shoham had been abducted with his family from the kibbutz of Be'eri in southern Israel, taken before 20 neighbors and friends were murdered. For the first six weeks of captivity, he grappled with agonizing thoughts of their fate, imagining various worst-case scenarios: his wife dead with the children alive, or the opposite, or, hardest of all, just his wife surviving. To cope, Shoham mentally buried his family, visualizing a grave with their bodies and giving a speech to each of them, allowing him to let go in case they were truly gone. Days later, he learned that his family had been taken captive, and after a temporary ceasefire in November 2023, they were among 50 hostages, mostly women and children, who were released. After 30 days in captivity, Shoham was joined by other hostages, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Evyatar David, and Omer Wenkert, who were all eventually taken to the tunnel. Shoham's health worsened with a mouth infection, followed by swelling, pain, and inability to walk. The captors brought in a medic, but the diagnosis was unclear, and Shoham was treated with antibiotics. It wasn’t until after his release that doctors confirmed he had advanced scurvy, a condition that sailors before the 18th century frequently suffered from due to lack of Vitamin C. By the time of his release, Shoham had lost nearly 70 pounds, dropping from 179 to 110 pounds. The hostages carefully rationed their food, dividing rice grains to ensure fairness. Shoham revealed that Hamas deliberately starved them to elicit emotional reactions from the Israeli public upon their release, hoping to force the Israeli government to negotiate. This strategy backfired. After the release of hostage Eli Sharabi in February 2025, public outcry led to an increase in the hostages' food intake. Shoham weighed 124 pounds when he was finally freed by the Red Cross and returned to Israel. Related articles: Report: Egypt willing to temporarily accept half a million Gazans 'Immediate ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza' BBC seeks military voices critical of Netanyahu, then apologizes 'Hamas chose war, Israel has the right to defend' Shoham also described how their foreman would beat them with a crowbar, including one incident where he injured Wenkert’s head. The captors then asked the hostages to massage the foreman, showing a sadistic side to their tormentors. The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, reached in January, saw the first phase of hostage releases, which included 25 living hostages and the bodies of eight deceased ones. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were also released, but talks for the second phase have stalled. This phase would involve an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the release of the remaining 59 Israeli hostages, and the cessation of military operations.
