Israel's first freed 13 hostages revealed: From two-year-old girl and 85-year-old to grandmother feared to have been killed, the elderly women, mothers and young daughters who have been freed by Hamas
By Jon Brady
Daily Mail
Nov 24, 2023
The Israeli captives released by Hamas were made up of nine women and four children
The names of the 13 Israeli women and children freed as part of a ceasefire exchange deal between Israel and Hamas have been published after they were returned to home soil on Friday.
Ranging from two years old up to the age of 85, the nine adults and four children were transported into Egypt via the Rafah border crossing by the International Red Cross on Friday while 39 Palestinian prisoners were freed from Israeli jails.
They have since been handed over to Israeli authorities, who immediately transported them into Israel along with ten Thai people and one Filipino, where they will undergo medical examination to ensure they are well.
The names of some of those freed on Friday have already become well-known following Hamas' murderous incursion into Israel on October 7, as their heartbroken relatives pleaded with the Israeli government to bring them home.
However, the fight goes on Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which has campaigned for the release of the 240 hostages believed to have been taken by Hamas into Gaza following the terror attack 48 days ago.
Asher family: Doron, 34, Raz, four, Aviv, two
Doron Katz Asher, 34, is among the first Israeli hostages released by Hamas
Her children Raz, four (left), and Aviv, two (right) were also kidnapped from the Nir Oz kibbutz by Hamas fighters
Footage shared online appeared to show Ms Asher and her children being loaded into a cart on October 7 and taken back into Gaza
Doron Asher's husband, Yoni Asher, pictured appealing for their safe return at a press conference last month
Doron Katz Asher, 34, and her daughters Raz, four, and Aviv, two, are among the 13 Israelis to have been released.
She was visiting her mother in the Nir Oz kibbutz on October 7 when Hamas attacked.
Husband Yoni Asher previously said he received a panic-stricken phone call from his wife saying terrorists had stormed the house - and his heart sank when he saw a video of them being loaded into a cart by Hamas terrorists.
'I surely identified my wife, my two daughters and my mother-in-law on some kind of a cart, and terrorists of Hamas all around them,' he said in the days after the attack.
Desperate, Mr Asher appealed directly to Hamas to not hurt his family and even offered to exchange himself for their safe return.
Aloni family Daniele, 45, and Emilia, six
Daniele Aloni and her daughter Emilia were also snatched from Nir Oz by Hamas alongside other members of their extended family
Ms Aloni (centre) later appeared in a Hamas propaganda video alongside Rimon Buchshtab Kirsht and Lena Trupanov criticising the Israeli government's response to the hostage crisis
Ms Aloni's husband Moran said his wife had sent a 'chilling' voice message on the day of the attacks, telling him: 'We don't think we're gonna make it'
Daniele Aloni, 45, and her daughter Emilia Aloni, six, were also captured in Nir Oz alongside Daniele's sister Sharon Aloni Cunio, her husband David Cunio and their three-year-old twin girls Ema and Yuly.
Her husband Moran, speaking to Israeli national newspaper Israel Hayom, told how the family had been lured out of a safe room by Hamas terrorists who set their house on fire.
Recalling the events of October 7, he said: 'Saturday morning, my sister sent us… the terrorists are in our house and she sends us a chilling voice message, saying "We can hear them in the house. They are burning the house. Smoke is getting under the door. We don't think we're gonna make it. We love you".
'Her last message was "Help! We're dying".'
Ms Aloni later appeared alongside two other Hamas hostages in a propaganda video issued by the terror group, in which the trio criticised the Israeli government's response to the hostage crisis.
The fate of the other members of their extended family remains unknown.
Munder family: Ohad, nine, Keren, 54, Ruth, 78
Keren Munder with her son Ohad Munder-Zichri. The pair were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, and Ohad marked his ninth birthday in captivity
Ms Munder's mother Ruth, 78, has been freed as part of the hostage deal struck between Israel and Hamas
The Munder family - nine-year-old Ohad Munder-Zichri, his mother Keren Munder, 54, and grandmother Ruth Munder, 78, were taken from Nir Oz alongside Ruth's husband Abraham.
The AP news agency reports that Keren is a special education teacher and volleyball coach for children with disabilities.
Ohad was eight at the time of the October 7 attacks; he marked his ninth birthday in captivity, relatives told Yahoo! News.
His cousin Itay Raviv told the news website days before the deal was struck: 'We missed Ohad's birthday. When he comes back, when they all come back, we're going to have a birthday every day.'
Abraham's fate remains unknown.
Adina Moshe, 72
Adina Moshe, 72, is among the 13 Israeli hostages released by Hamas on Friday
A woman holds a portrait of Adina Moshe - who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 after her husband Said was shot dead
Adina (in red) is wedged between two Hamas fighters as they take her into Gaza on October 7
Adina Moshe, 72, was taken by Hamas after her husband Said was shot dead by the terrorists as he tried to stop them from entering their safe room in Nir Oz.
MailOnline spoke to locals on the ground in the kibbutz following the attack, who told of the heartbreaking moment her husband gave his life trying to protect her.
A kibbutz spokesperson called Ron said: 'Said was holding the door of their safe room shut with bare hands. The Hamas could not get in so they broke open the window.
'They shot Said dead and kidnapped Adina. When we found him he was still holding the door handle.'
She is thought to have been identified as a woman wedged between two Hamas fighters on a motorbike in a photograph that was circulated by a news agency after the attacks began.
Hanna Katzir, 77
Hanna Katzir was reported to have died in captivity, according to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group based in Gaza
Ms Katzir had been seen alive in a propaganda clip aired November 9, 2023, by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, prior to their false announcement of her death
People watching a news broadcast of the Israeli hostage release on Friday react as it emerges that Hanna Katzir is alive
Hanna Katzir, 77, was believed to have died in captivity; another terror group operating in Gaza, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, claimed she was dead.
The PIJ - which, like Hamas, is a proscribed group in the UK - falsely claimed that 'procrastination' by Israel 'led to the loss of her life'.
She had appeared in a video issued by the PIJ prior to the false announcement being made, in which she said: 'I miss home, my children, my husband Rami, and the whole, dear, beloved family.'
Israeli analyst Eli Kowaz, a senior advisor for the Israel Policy Forum, wrote that the fake reports of Ms Katzir's death was 'psychological warfare'.
'This sick manipulation is the psychological warfare that will intensify in the coming days,' he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Photographs taken in Tel Aviv show people reacting emotionally to the news that Ms Katzir is alive.
Ms Katzir, a mother of three and grandmother of six, was taken hostage along with her son and dozens of their neighbours from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7.
Her husband, Avraham 'Rami', was murdered while her son Elad remains in captivity. There has been no further information about him since he was taken.
Margalit Mozes
Grandmother Margalit Mozes, 78, was abducted from Nir Oz by Hamas during the October 7 terror attack.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum described her as 'a devoted grandmother, dedicated nature lover and birdwatcher. She loves hiking and knitting.
The Times of Israel reports that Ms Mozes was a cancer survivor, and was taken alongside her ex-husband Gadi, who is presumed to remain in captivity.
Ms Mozes holds German citizenship and her children met with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a bid to gain his support in pressuring Hamas to set her free.
German news website T-Online reports that she is a doctor of biology, and had travelled to Palestinian areas to advise local farmers.
Channah Peri
Channa (also Channah) Peri, 79, was taken by Hamas fighters who cruelly used her phone to send images of her in captivity to her daughter
Hamas used her phone to take an image of her and her son Nadav Popplewell
Ms Peri, 79, was taken hostage along with her son Nadav Popplewell in kibbutz Nirim, a mile from Gaza - but killed Nadav's brother Roi during the attack.
Her daughter, Ayelet Svatitzky, previously revealed cruel Hamas gunmen then used her phone to take pictures of their captives and sent them to her, captioning the images: 'Hamas'.
Mrs Svatitzky, 46, said in October: 'Someone used my mum's phone to take the pictures of her and my brother, then sent them to me with a message saying in English: "Hamas". That was the last I heard of them. My neighbour looked outside the window and saw my mum being taken out.
'Then my 54-year-old brother Roi, who lives in a different neighbourhood, was found - he was shot dead behind his house.'
Roi is one of around 12-14 British nationals believed to have been killed by Hamas on October 7. Nadav is believed to still be in captivity.
Yafa Adar
Yafa Adar, as seen in a photo handed out by a campaign group calling for the hostages to be returned safely
Yafa Adar is transported to Gaza by armed Hamas terrorists in a golf cart after the October 7 attacks
Yafa Adar, also Yaffa, 85, became recognisable after she was transported by Hamas terrorists into Gaza on board a golf cart.
Her daughter Adva, appealing for her release in the days after October 7, said she relied on medicine and would likely have been in 'a lot of pain'.
She told Sky News on October 9: 'We saw the videos showing men with guns taking her to Gaza. I cannot even start to imagine how scared she is.'
She added that she could not understand why Hamas had chosen to kidnap women and children - though all 13 captives released on November 24 fell into this group.
Adva added: 'The situation might be hard, but there's no reason in the world that elderly women and kids and babies get kidnapped.'
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