The 13 Israeli hostages freed on Friday after being abducted in the Hamas-led surprise attack last month have begun reuniting with their families, ending nearly seven weeks of uncertainty and fear over their fates in Gaza.
Yoni Asher, whose wife, Doron, and two daughters were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was reunited with them on Friday. In a video released by the Schneider children’s hospital on Saturday, Mr. Asher can be seen embracing his wife and children on a hospital bed.
“Did you miss me? Did you think about Dad?” Mr. Asher asked his daughters — Raz, 4, and Aviv, 2 — to which Doron murmurs: “All the time.”
“I dreamed that we went home,” Raz said.
“Your dream came true,” Mr. Asher said with a smile. “We’re home, we’re going to our home soon.”
In another video released by the hospital, Ohad Munder Zichri, 9, runs down a hospital hallway into his father’s arms. His family also shared images of the bespectacled Ohad — abducted along with his mother, Keren, and grandmother Ruti from Nir Oz — playing with a Rubik’s cube.
Thirteen Israeli hostages were released in Friday’s exchange, the first group of roughly 50 expected to be freed from captivity in Gaza under the terms of Israel’s cease-fire with Hamas. At least 150 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are slated for release from Israeli jails as part of the deal.
Prof. Gilat Livni, who is overseeing the treatment of the returned child hostages at Schneider, said the four Israeli children who had returned were “overall in generally good condition” despite their ordeal.
“Both the mothers and the children are speaking, telling stories and sharing their experiences,” Professor Livni told reporters, calling it “astonishing and emotional.”
For many families — even for those whose loved ones were released — the joy at their liberation was mixed with profound sadness for the over 200 hostages believed to remain in Gaza. Some families were split up, with women and children sent home even as male relatives remained behind — including Ohad’s grandfather Avraham.
“We’re happy, but we’re not celebrating. There are still other hostages in captivity,” Roy Zichri, Ohad’s brother, said in a video statement. “We need to keep up the struggle until all the hostages are freed, every last one,” he added.
