Household and pals of launched Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov clapped, burst into tears and popped bottles of champagne as they watched him stroll free on Saturday after being handed over by Hamas in Gaza.
Shem Tov was amongst six Israeli captives freed by Palestinian militants as a part of the seventh hostage-prisoner swap to happen below the primary part of a fragile truce which took impact final month.
Militants launched 4 hostages seized in Hamas’s unprecedented October 7, 2023 assault on Israel and two males who had been held captive for a decade.
Pictures printed by the army confirmed an elated Shem Tov reuniting together with his mother and father at a reception centre inside Israel.
“You haven’t any thought how a lot I’ve dreamt of you!” he informed them mid-embrace. “So have we,” his mother and father replied. “You might be your mom’s life,” Shelly Shem Tov informed her son.
Earlier within the day, Hamas militants had paraded Shem Tov together with Eliya Cohen and Omer Wenkert on stage in central Gaza’s Nuseirat space, the place they waved and held launch certificates earlier than being handed over to the Pink Cross.
Within the central Israeli city of Gadera, dozens of Wenkert’s pals waited on tenterhooks for his launch, earlier than celebrating with cheers and dancing.
“I noticed the look on his face, he’s calm, he is aware of he’s coming again residence. He is aware of his family and friends look ahead to him,” mentioned Wenkert’s good friend Rory Grosz.
“He’s an actual hero. He’s my hero.”
The primary hostages launched on Saturday have been Tal Shoham, kidnapped within the 2023 assault, and Avera Mengistu, who had spent greater than 10 years in captivity in Gaza.
The pair appeared pale and dazed as they have been introduced onto a wet stage within the south Gaza metropolis of Rafah.
Dozens of kin, pals and supporters of Mengistu cheered and clapped as they watched footage of his launch within the southern Israeli metropolis of Ashkelon.
“We really feel like we’re on cloud 9, overwhelmed with happiness — it’s a day of celebration,” mentioned relative Gili Elias, describing the second as “closure”.
Mengistu’s household mentioned in an announcement that that they had endured greater than a decade of “unimaginable struggling” throughout his captivity.
Pictures printed by the workplace of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Mengistu embracing his household as he arrived at an Israeli reception centre.
– ‘Lengthy-awaited second’ –Feelings ran excessive within the Israeli industrial hub of Tel Aviv, the place tons of gathered in intermittent rain to look at the captives’ releases within the plaza dubbed Hostages Sq..
As the lads walked to freedom, the group clapped and wept. One spectator held up a placard studying “rain of tears and hope”.
Cohen’s household mentioned they have been “overwhelmed with emotion and gratitude for Eliya’s return residence after 505 lengthy and torturous days in captivity.”
“Seeing him immediately strengthens us and provides us nice hope for the lengthy rehabilitation course of forward,” the household added.
A sixth captive, Hisham al-Sayed, additionally arrived again in Israel on Saturday after being handed over to the Pink Cross following practically 10 years in captivity.
“The Sayed household is moved by Hisham’s return residence,” they mentioned in an announcement.
“After practically a decade of combating for Hisham’s return, the long-awaited second has arrived.”
In trade for the hostages, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Membership advocacy group mentioned Israel would free round 600 inmates on Saturday, most of them Gazans arrested in the course of the warfare.
Hamas and its allies took 251 folks captive in the course of the assault that sparked the warfare. There are 62 hostages nonetheless in Gaza, together with 35 the Israeli army says are useless.
