Finding God in Gaza’s Tunnels
 

The extraordinary stories of the Israelis who found faith during their hostage ordeal

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While dozens remain in captivity, many Israeli hostages have now been returned alive to Israel – including, most recently, around 30 in a series of releases during the 2025 prisoner exchange deal. The harrowing testimonies many have shared of their time under Hamas rule have been shocking and disturbing. Many were starved, intimidated and threatened. Some were whipped and battered with sticks. Serious wounds incurred by many on their captivity weren’t properly treated. Some died in Gaza as a result.

Which makes it difficult to believe there could be any positive outcome to the ‘hell on earth’ endured by the hostages in their Gazan captivity. Yet several of them – all female, incidentally – have testified to coming into the reality of their historic Jewish faith as a result of their ordeal. Here are their stories:
 

Agam Berger

The life of Agam Berger, a 20-year-old IDF surveillance officer from central Israel, changed dramatically when she was snatched by Hamas from her lookout post in Nachal Oz during the Oct. 7 attack. Having grown up secular, the harsh realities of being in captivity forced her to turn to God.

Other hostages have shared how they were put under daily pressure to convert to Islam, even being promised they’d be released sooner if they did. Similar attempts were used to persuade Agam, but she found inner strength to consistently refuse the teachings of the Quran.

Agam began to note that while her captors harboured deep hatred toward Jews, they showed at least a degree of respect toward those who were in any way religious. “They said all of Judaism is a lie, but they preferred someone who believes in God over someone who doesn’t”, observed Agam. “For them, there is no such thing as not believing in God.”

Still, Agam was astonished when, in January 2024, the terrorists brought various items to the hostages, including a siddur - Jewish prayer book. “They asked us what it was and then gave it to us.” Agam believes the prayer book had been inadvertently left behind by soldiers who had previously been in the area. She found the occasion particularly providential. "It wasn’t random," she said with certainty. "It arrived exactly when we needed it most." The prayer book became a source of immense encouragement to Agam, and she turned to it daily.
 

The prayer book became a source of immense encouragement to Agam, and she turned to it daily.

Agam went on to speak about the importance of Shabbat in helping her maintain a sense of normalcy and faith, despite her captivity. Again, she was surprised when, at one point, her captors brought the hostages candles before Shabbat. “We would know when Shabbat had begun (by listening to the radio). I took it upon myself to keep Shabbat.” Agam became increasingly observant in her faith. On one occasion when the terrorists told her to cook for them, she replied, “I don’t light fires on Shabbat”, and remarkably, her explanation was accepted.

Agam went further than keeping the Shabbat; she also kept Jewish fast days: “I observed Yom Kippur, Ta’anit Esther, and Tisha B’Av (the ninth of Av). I asked God to give me a sign, and then, by chance, I saw the date ‘ninth of Av’ appear on television. From there, we counted until the actual day.”

During Passover, Agam found the boldness to ask her captors for cornmeal so she would avoid eating leavened bread; sure enough, the captors brought it to her. “Somehow, they valued me more because I was religious”, she added.

One of the most significant moments of Agam’s captivity was Yom Kippur. "We managed to fast, and I remember praying a lot that day," she said. "I also fasted on the Fast of Esther. It was something I felt I had to do, especially given our circumstances."
 

Somehow, they valued me more because I was religious

Agam was released on 29th January 2025, after 482 days in Hamas captivity.
 

Daniella Gilboa

Agam Berger wasn’t the only IDF surveillance soldier abducted from the Nahal Oz on Oct. 7. Her friend and colleague Daniella Gilboa was, too.

As the terrorists surrounded the soldiers at the outpost, Gilboa said she found herself praying “…for all the girls who were with me, because I felt like there was nothing else I could do better than that at the time. I couldn’t rely on the safety that the army might provide, or on the protection the shelter might offer, because it wasn’t just about the rockets. I couldn’t rely on those few armed girls either.”

“I didn’t want to give up or say goodbye, so instead, I prayed and believed with all my heart that my end wasn’t there, in that bomb shelter. I knew that the only thing that could save us was faith."
Gilboa was held in captivity for a year and three months – twelve months less than Agam Berger – being released in January 2024.

One Shabbat morning shortly after her release, Gilboa, along with other released hostages, recited the Birkat HaGomel blessing of thanksgiving – typically recited by someone saved from a life-threatening situation – in a synagogue. The prayer was, Gilboa recalled, “to thank God, who, against all odds, saved us from the worst possible thing. I had been waiting for this moment since the day I survived October 7.”
 

I knew that the only thing that could save us was faith.

 

Sapir Cohen

Six months before October 7, Sapir Cohen began to feel an overwhelming sense of anguish that something bad was going to happen. Soon after, a chapter of the biblical Tehillim (Psalms) appeared on her Instagram. For no particular reason it resonated with her, and she recited it daily. “For the first time in my life, I decided to pray,” Cohen admitted.

Still, her unsettling feelings did not go away. As her dread continued to mount, her prayers brought her just a little bit of comfort, and she quickly memorised the entirety of Psalm 27.

The moment terrorists stormed the house in southern Israel where Cohen was on Oct. 7, she instinctively began to recite this perek (Psalm 27). “I was terrified”, she said. “But when I said this prayer, something clicked inside of me. I felt peace and I didn’t understand how I could feel it in this situation.”

Before Oct. 7, Cohen and her boyfriend, Sacha, had made plans to visit his parents in Kibbutz Nir Oz for the last weekend of Sukkot. In the days leading up to their stay, Sasha started having serious doubts about traveling to the kibbutz. Cohen found this odd, and to her regret, she convinced him to go anyway.

Cohen was mercilessly thrust on the back of a motorcycle and driven to Gaza, where hundreds of Palestinians were gathered on the streets. Many lurched forward to mock and beat her. Ironically, Sapir, recalled, “it was the terrorists who saved me, for the main goal in most cases, is to take you alive.” (Sasha remains in Hamas captivity).
 

One of the biggest miracles that I felt is that I understood that I was supposed to be there

Despite the grim circumstances of her many weeks in captivity, this was when she experienced further spiritual revelation. “Every day I felt miracles. One of the biggest miracles that I felt is that I understood that I was supposed to be there.”

This came about as Cohen felt the need to shift her attention from her own suffering to another hostage, a 16-year-old girl, who required help “This is enough for me to understand that I need to be here. I want to keep this girl, to make her happy.”

“Even the terrorists could not understand how I could be happy in this situation”, Cohen recalled. “One day, one of them drew a memorial candle and he wrote my name on it. I asked him why he wrote my name. He told me, ‘I don’t love you, you’re my enemy – I hate you. But when you are here in this place, the whole place lights up. I couldn’t believe I heard a terrorist say such a thing.”

“Every day I say my prayers, I thank God that He sent me to this place, for I feel the power that You gave me, and I know how to use it to keep myself and the other hostages. And I thanked God for all the angels that He sent to this hell. …I understood that all the angels that I felt were not imaginary."

Sapir Cohen was released by Hamas after 55 days in captivity.
 

I understood that all the angels that I felt were not imaginary.

 

Author of salvation

From time immemorial humans have felt driven to reach out beyond themselves and turn to an unseen power in times of hardship and trial. The Scriptures are replete with examples of this happening in the lives of ordinary Jews as well as Israel as a nation. Many of the Psalms capture this theme. Note, for example, Psalm 57; a cry from David when he fled from Saul into a cave:

Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,
for in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the disaster has passed.
I cry out to God Most High,
to God, who vindicates me.
He sends from heaven and saves me,
rebuking those who hotly pursue me
God sends forth His love and His faithfulness. (Ps 57:1-3).

It's a wonderful Psalm in which the psalmist seeks to rise above his dire circumstances and put his trust fully in God. In no time, faith rises in him and he shouts out a song of praise:

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth. (v.11)

As the above-noted former hostages turned to God in their time of need, lets us pray that they continue to rely on His goodness day by day now that they are in more comfortable circumstances and as they eagerly await other loved ones to be released by Hamas.

Meantime, let us pray that their spiritual eyes be opened further, so that they may encounter Yeshua, the true deliverer from all darkness; He is "the Way, the Truth and the Life", there being, “no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).