An Israeli native who spent 505 days in captivity after being taken hostage by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, Nova music festival, was met with a standing-room-only crowd Wednesday night at Chabad of Weston.

Omer Shem Tov, freed in February 2025, spoke one-on-one with CBS News Miami.

Shem Tov credited his survival and safe return to his faith and President Donald Trump .

"I stayed alone for 450 days. In darkness most of the time," Shem Tov said. "Starvation, extreme starvation."

Held underground in Gaza tunnels

Shem Tov said that during the first weeks of his captivity, he was moved from apartment to apartment across Gaza before being forced underground into the network of tunnels.

At times, he said, he could hear Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and military vehicle

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