Omer Shem Tov’s family watched, helpless, as he was dragged to Gaza by Hamas on Oct. 7.
The 21-year-old was at the Nova music festival with friends when he was hunted down and kidnapped. He remains in Gaza — one of some 100 hostages who remain in the clutches of terrorists seven months into the war.
“On live location share, his family witnessed him being kidnapped to Gaza,” Shem Tov’s cousin Leat Corinne Unger, 37, told The Post on Friday.
Unger described her family’s harrowing ordeal at “Open Tent Shabbat” at Flatiron Plaza, which was hosted by the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York and the Jewish Community Relations Council.
Hostages’ families demanded the release of their loved ones, and also used the event as an opportunity for New Yorkers to pray and to learn about the Israelis still in captivity.
The event came as news emerged Friday that three captives, including Shani Louk, were found dead in Rafah.
The horror-story of the Oct. 7 massacre of the Nova festival is now worldwide news. For Shem Tov, the terror began with gunfire and explosions around 6:30 a.m. The 21-year-old called his sister and told her not to worry before trying to make his way out by car, but quickly ditched that plan and took off into the brush on foot, Unger said.
Terrorists tracked him down and he was thrown in the back of a pickup truck after escaping gunfire.
Even in dire conditions in Gaza, Unger said Shem-Tov kept his faith.
They learned from his friend Itay — who was also abducted but later released as part of a cease-fire deal — that the pair would track what time of day it was by listening to the Muslim prayers.
Tov and Itay would ration their food so they could continue to make the Sabbath blessing, Itay later told Tov’s family.
“They would scrape the salt off the pretzels they were given once and they used very little of it and saved the rest,” she said, adding they were also given grape juice and saved it.
“The small amount of pita bread they were given, they would take each part of their portions and recite the blessing of the Sabbath to bring light into the darkness,” she added.
Unger, a Columbia University alumna, said that anyone who wants to end the suffering in Gaza should also be pressuring Hamas to release the remaining hostages.
“No matter what end of the political spectrum you stand on, it’s not a political thing. Hostages are a humanitarian crisis and it should be left at that,” she said.
“If you truly want to stop the suffering of innocent Palestinians, you would be demanding the release of the hostages,” Unger continued. “With the release of the hostages comes a ceasefire and an end of suffering and bloodshed on all sides.”
Although it’s been a “rollercoaster,” Tov’s family is “hopeful” that he will be returned to them safely, Unger said.
Friday’s event comes as the Israeli Defense Forces announced they recovered the bodies of three hostages, including 22-year-old Shani Louk, who was filmed being paraded around half-naked by terrorists during the Oct. 7 attacks.
Two additional victims of the music festival massacre, Amit Buskila, 28, and Itzik Gelernter, 58, were also dead during military operations in Rafah.
Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others. About half of the 250 hostages Hamas took were released after a ceasefire deal in November.
Unger is a graduate of Columbia University and has been disturbed by the rabid anti-Israel protests on campus. She said that through all of the tumult, the innocent hostages have politicized.
