Overview
- Four survivors — Noa Argamani, Avinatan Or, Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal — spoke before roughly 2,000 attendees at the Jewish Federations of North America opening plenary in Washington.
- Avinatan Or described digging for weeks toward the surface in Gaza’s tunnels, briefly reaching open air before being discovered, beaten for days and tied to a chair for weeks.
- Guy Gilboa-Dalal recounted being used as a human shield, subjected to psychological manipulation just before release and learning that letters he wrote in captivity reached his family and officials.
- Organizers noted that Or, David and Gilboa-Dalal were freed in the October ceasefire deal after about two years in captivity, while Argamani was rescued by Israeli forces in June 2024.
- Argamani publicly thanked supporters and credited U.S. figures including Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and President Donald Trump, as the audience responded with a prolonged standing ovation.