The families of the Israeli hostages handed over to the Israeli military on Monday celebrated as they prepared to greet their loved ones for the first time in two years.
The Israeli military asaid that Hamas had released the last 20 living hostages in Gaza. The International Committee of the Red Cross transported them in vehicles within Gaza and handed them over to the Israeli military.
The Israeli government confirmed the names of the first seven hostages who were freed as Alon Ohel, Matan Angrest, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Eitan Mor and Omri Miran.
In a second statement, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office named the next 13 who had been freed and were on their way to Israel: Yosef Chaim Ohana, Avinatan Or, Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Evyatar David, Eitan Horn, Maxim Herkin, Nimrod Cohen, Segev Kalfon, Matan Tzangauker, Ariel Cunio, David Cunio and Bar Kuperstein.
“We can’t wait for this miracle to happen,” said Dani Miran, father of Omri Miran. He said that the relatives of the hostages had gathered at a facility near the border with Gaza, where the hostages had been set to arrive. “Our nightmare is finally over. He’s almost here,” said Ilan Gilboa Dalal, father of Gilboa-Dalal.
The father said before he arrived. “I’m going to tell him: ‘My son, the nightmare is
over. You’re finally safe, you’re with us. We’re never leaving you again.”
On Monday, a group of friends had gathered in Tel Aviv to watch Alon Ohel’s release on television. “Alon Ohel, come here!” they shouted together as they watched the broadcast.
Yonatan Kellerman, Eitan Mor’s uncle, described his nephew’s freedom as “an enormous relief”, but added that Hamas was still present in Gaza as a fighting force. “The war’s not really over yet,” he said.
Some of the hostages had spoken to their parents before their release on Monday via video calls from Gaza.
Israeli television showed Einav Zangauker, the mother of Matan Zangauker, 25, speaking on a video call with her son in Gaza for the first time since he was abducted two years ago from his home in Nir Oz, near the Gaza border. “There’s no war; it’s over,” she told him. “You are coming home!”
Yehuda Cohen said he had spoken with his son Nimrod Cohen while he was still in Hamas’s custody. “What was important was to see him,” said Yehuda. “We couldn’t
hear him clearly, but he looked like himself.”
Long road ahead
While major questions remain about the future of Hamas and Gaza, the exchange of hostages and prisoners raised hopes for ending the deadliest war ever between Israel and the militant group. The ceasefire deal calls for a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza, parts of which are experiencing famine.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. In Israel’s retaliatory offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the dead were women and children.