A freed Israeli hostage revealed his Hamas tormentors “immediately” treated him better when President Trump was elected — and claimed the group of terrorists wanted Kamala Harris to win the 2024 election.
Omer Shem Tov, 22, provided insight into Hamas’ political calculations as he detailed the hellish conditions he endured for more than 500 days after he was kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
“As soon as Donald Trump was elected, they understood that he wants to bring the hostages back home,” he told CNN in a new interview published Wednesday.
“So immediately the way they treated me changed … when Trump became president the way they treated us changed for me personally.”
His captors provided him with more food while they stopped cursing at and spitting on him, Shem Tov told CNN’s Bianna Golodryga.
He credited Trump for getting the hostages released as part of a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas earlier this year.
“Before we felt like nothing is happening, and I remember ever since he came into the role, they were very scared of him,” Shem Tov said of Trump.
“They wanted Kamala to be chosen,” he said of the former vice president, citing talks he had with his captors.
Shem Tov was released with five others on Feb. 22, more than a year after he was taken to Gaza when Hamas stormed the Nova music festival.
He said during the CNN interview that he dropped 50 pounds, relying on biscuits and salty water to survive.
“I was being starved,” he said. “There’s no question about it.”
Shem Tov said Hamas captors told him “we’re gonna shoot you” if they heard Israeli forces nearby, but his biggest fear was dying from Israel’s military campaign in the Palestinian enclave.
“I believe every soldier is a hero, I really do believe it, and I think the army, they’re doing an amazing job, but for us, it’s the scariest moments, it’s the bombing, you feel like your life can be taken in every moment,” he said.
Shem Tov has spent his time since his release advocating for the release of the other hostages still languishing in captivity. He and other former hostages met with Trump in March.