Freed hostage Agam Berger breaks her silence: October 7th should never have happened

In her first public interviews since being freed after 16 months in captivity, Agam Berger revealed how radio broadcasts and media coverage of the hostage crisis gave her crucial strength during her ordeal and shared harrowing details about what she witnessed on October 7, 2023.

Speaking earlier this morning (Tuesday) on Israel's "Seder Yom" radio program, the 20-year-old former IDF lookout described the psychological challenges of extended captivity and called for a thorough investigation into the events that led to the attack.

Finding Hope Through Media

Berger, who was captured from the Nahal Oz military outpost during the October 7 attack, said she and fellow hostage Liri Albag were initially allowed to listen to radio broadcasts, which became a vital connection to the outside world.

"We would listen to the interviews, sometimes looking for interviews with our families," Berger said. "Hearing these gave us tremendous strength. It showed us people were fighting for our return."

However, after the dramatic rescue of four other hostages in June, their captors became more restrictive. "Before the rescue in June, that changed their attitude. They closed our access to radio completely—they took it away," she explained.

"It was difficult to hear statements about the price of the deal," she added. "It was as if saying our lives weren't worth enough."

Life in Captivity

The Holon native described how she struggled to maintain hope during her 482 days in captivity and shared details about the conditions they endured.

"The food in captivity was mostly okay — it meant eating rice every day, but the portions were fine," she said. "You need to get used to two meals a day, one of which is a pita in the morning, and you feel like vomiting when you see it every day. When we got used to it, it was okay. Before that, I was hungry."

According to Berger, the hostages received occasional items from the outside world, including prayer books and a newspaper that helped answer questions about the initial attack. "At one point they brought a newspaper, it gave us answers to questions we had — what happened there? How did they not see that October 7 was happening?"

In January 2024, captors even brought maps left by the IDF, asking for assistance that the hostages refused to provide.

Final Days and Staged Propaganda

Berger revealed new details about her final days in captivity and the propaganda videos her captors tried to create.

"The day before [my release], they took me for a trip to the sea. It took two hours of driving around, they made many videos of me in the car as if I was thanking them," she recounted. "I didn't want to say too much. They gave us paper to write them a thank you note. I said I don't care, I'll write whatever you want, I'm going home."

She also shared how she was unaware of other hostages' releases: "They told Liri she was going to film a video. I didn't know she was going home, she didn't know either and understood it later. I didn't know the other girls had been released before me."

Calls for Investigation

Berger emphasized the importance of investigating what happened on October 7, both for the hostages and those who lost their lives.

"It's important that everything is investigated, not just for me but for those who gave their lives that day," she stated firmly. "People were murdered in cruel ways that are unimaginable. What happened could have been prevented."

She maintained that her faith was what primarily sustained her throughout the ordeal. Having a watch—initially given to fellow hostage Romi Gonen for taking antibiotics—also helped them track time during the early months of captivity, though "in the last two months they took it away."

Berger was among seven female lookouts captured from the Nahal Oz outpost, which saw some of the heaviest fighting during the October 7 attack when dozens of militants breached the facility.