Tears of joy as the living hostages are returned
LAVON, Israel (AP) — It was a day of joy and tears across Israel. Families, loved ones and friends waited anxiously for Hamas to take action releasing the last living hostages He was held captive in the Gaza Strip for more than two years.
It has been 738 days since Alon Ohel was taken hostage for his family.
The young music lover’s friends jumped to their feet, cheered, blew shofars (trumpets that traditionally convey good news) and hugged each other when they saw the live-streamed photo of him among the seven hostages. Hamas handed over to the Red Cross for the first time Monday morning.
“This is the best morning of my life. I just want to hug her,” Ohel’s cousin Noam Rozen, 24, said before he drowned.
Waiting in a village on the hills of Galilee
Hundreds of people had been filling the small community center of this Galilee hilltop village since dawn for one of the most important days of their lives. The last 20 hostages alive It was planned to be released first to the Red Cross and then to the Israeli army as part of an agreement. Ceasefire in Israel-Hamas war.
“Months ago, I said to God, ‘If Alon comes home, I will bring a shofar and thank you for that,'” said Yaniv Shema Zion, who has known Ohel since he was little.
Wearing t-shirts with pictures of Ohel on them, people from Lavon waved flags, sang hymns, hugged and wiped their tears in front of the broadcast’s projection screen showing images from Gaza.
“Knowing Alon, there was no chance we wouldn’t take him back,” said his aunt, Nirit Ohel, but added that the family was still concerned about his health.
In Alon Ohel’s eye, there was a piece of shrapnel left after the attack on the bomb shelter in Southern Israel where he took shelter on October 7, 2023.
Endless days in chains
Ohel was kidnapped from a mobile bomb shelter at the Nova music festival. Murdered American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin In captivity in August 2024.
Eli SharabiAnother hostage held with Ohel and released in a previous ceasefire said they were kept chained with only a moldy pita a day for food.
Ohel became a symbol of the hostage crisis because he played the piano. At his mother’s initiative, pianos were erected in his honor throughout the country, including next to Jerusalem’s city hall and in Tel Aviv’s hostage square.
“He wanted people to play and thus send their love to him,” Nirit Ohel said.
Hostages situation
The fate of the 251 people taken hostage by Hamas-led militants in an attack on southern Israel nearly two years ago has negatively affected every aspect of daily life in this country.
Hostage posters and stickers are plastered everywhere, from seaside walkways to rural bus stops, and many Israelis have been wearing yellow ribbons on their lapels, wrists, cars and gardens for more than two years.
Weekly vigils and protests were held in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and small communities like the Ohels’ home in Lavon (230 families in the northern Galilee) came together to help the hostages’ relatives. Tens of thousands of people gathered to watch the news of the release.
On Monday morning, the country rejoiced to see the first group of the last 20 hostages still held in Gaza transferred to the Red Cross as part of the ceasefire agreement.
It’s a long journey
This is the first step in a long journey towards the recovery of the hostages, whose situation is still unknown. The other 28 people believed dead were expected to be released later, and many Israelis feel that the country cannot begin to fully recover from the collective trauma until their remains are also returned.
For religious Jews, Monday had an extra special meaning.
Both the attack on October 7, 2023, and the release of the hostages coincided with the Jewish people celebrating the holiday of Simchat Torah, which marks the beginning of a new annual cycle of reading the scrolls. It is one of the most joyful days of the Jewish calendar. Festive dance around the Torah.
When did the war start Hamas-led militants entered Israel Approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 people were taken hostage on October 7, 2023.
More than 67,600 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in the ensuing Israeli offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which did not distinguish between civilians and combatants but said about half of the deaths were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-led government, and the UN and many independent experts consider the ministry’s figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.
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Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s war coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
