Emotional reunions as children, women hostages released by Hamas

After being held captive for almost 50 days, Israeli hostages who had been freed by Hamas militants were reunited with their families on Friday, to much relief and joy. In the most recent phase of a four-day cease-fire, Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners, while Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip released another batch of 17 hostages, including 13 Israelis.

In a video released by Schneider Children’s Medical Centre (SCMC), nine-year-old Ohad Munder is seen embracing his father tightly and running for the first time since Hamas freed him from the Gaza Strip on Friday.

Ohad was freed, along with his grandmother Ruti Munder, 78, and mother Keren Munder, 55. Avraham Munder, Ruti’s spouse, is still detained by Hamas in Gaza.

Ohad turned nine years old while he was detained in Gaza, and celebrations were held all over Israel on his birthday. People who were advocating for the boy’s release crafted his portrait out of the Rubik’s cube, as he was an adept solver of the puzzle.

Pictures of Ohad solving a Rubik’s cube in the hospital while Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers watched went viral on social media on Saturday.

In a tearful video, Roy Zichri Munder, Ohad’s brother, thanked all the citizens for their “hugs and support, without which we wouldn’t have been able to hold up for these 49 days, as well as the IDF for its role in releasing his family members.

“To all of the Israelites, I am grateful. It is imperative that I clarify that today is not a celebration day. We are content, but we won’t be celebrating just yet because we still need to carry out our campaign and have more hostages. Roy pledged support to everyone whose loved ones are still detained by Hamas in Gaza, saying, “We will keep up our efforts until all the hostages are freed.

“Never give up. They’ll be back soon,” he declared.

Five-year-old Emilia Alony was also freed along with her mother, Danielle, and reunited with her grandmother. Emilia is pictured with her grandmother in a close embrace in pictures provided by the SCMS.

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On October 7, while the two were visiting Danielle’s sister and her family at Kibbutz Nir Oz, all of them were abducted during Hamas-led attacks.

Maya Regev, 21, was one of the hostages released late on Saturday. She was taken hostage by Hamas fighters during their deadly attack on the Supernova music festival.