A total of 14 hostages with Israeli nationality were returned to Israel on Sunday (AFP)
Tel Aviv, Israel:
Israeli soldiers rescued from the Gaza Strip welcomed the release of their fellow hostages on Monday in their first public appearance since their liberation.
Oli Megidish, 19, was running an observation post on the heavily militarized Gaza border when he was captured in the October 7 Hamas attack.
Her rescue was confirmed by the Israeli military just over three weeks later, but no details of her capture or the operation to free her were released.
In a relaxing video filmed at her home and posted on her TikTok account, she said she was “in good spirits” and “happy to see all the emotional footage of hostages being returned to their families.”
“I hope that all the families who are still waiting for the hostages to come home will come together and celebrate like I did. I hope that with God’s help they all come back.”
A total of 14 hostages with Israeli nationality were returned to Israel on Sunday, the third day of a four-day truce with Hamas that saw a total of 50 Gaza prisoners released in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners.
Inbar Goldstein and her sister-in-law Chen Goldstein Almog, 48, have three of their four children: Agam, 17, Gal, 11, and Tal, 8.
On October 7, when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 240, they also killed the children’s father, Nadav, and sister, Yam. He was killed and the rest of the family was taken to Gaza.
“They know about the terrible tragedy that happened to their families on that dark Sabbath day,” she said in a statement released by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum.
“Now we are taking a deep breath, putting our true smiles back on our faces, starting to pick up the pieces, and taking the time to continue the fight until the last abductee is safely returned to us. ”
us infants
Since the October 7 attack, Israel has fought back with a major military operation, which Gaza’s Hamas rulers say has killed around 15,000 people, two-thirds of them women. He is said to be a child.
Negotiations continued on Monday to extend the cease-fire and result in the return of hostages.
One family remained tense even after Elma Abraham, 84, was taken to Soroka Hospital in the southern city of Beersheba shortly after her release and doctors said she was in a “serious condition.”
“She is being treated in our hospital’s emergency department because she has been held captive by Hamas for the past few weeks and suffered severe neglect,” Soroka Hospital Director Shlomi Kodish said.
The elderly artist was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
Another freed hostage was toddler Abigail, a dual US-Israeli citizen whose parents were murdered on October 7, an incident highlighted by US President Joe Biden.
In a short statement via a family forum, her family confirmed that the 4-year-old girl in captivity was safe at home, but asked for time and privacy to recover.
“She just arrived at the hospital. She was examined and treated,” said her aunt Ella Mohr. “We just want to say she has her family and we’re taking care of her.”
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