Hugs that say 'our hostage hell is over'... but families fear loved
ones will struggle to recover after 7 nightmare weeks at hands of
terrorists
Daily Mail
Nov 25, 2023
Aviv Asher, 2,5-year-old, her
sister Raz Asher, 4,5-year-old, and mother Doron, react as they meet
with Yoni, Raz and Aviv's father and Doron's husband, after they
returned to Israel to the designated complex at the Schneider Children's
Medical Center, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in
Petah Tikva, Israel, in this handout picture released on November 25,
2023
After a seven-week nightmare in which they feared they may never see their loved ones again, 13 Israeli hostages were finally reunited with their families yesterday.
There
were emotional scenes at hospitals in Tel Aviv as young children
sprinted towards their parents and grandparents – 49 days after they
were snatched by Hamas terrorists in the October 7 attacks.
'I dreamed that we went home,' said little Raz Asher, four, sitting on the lap of her relieved father Yoni.
His voice quivering, he softly replied:
'Did you dream that you went home? Here the dream has come true. We are
home, we are going to our house soon. We are coming home soon.'
Hamas
terrorists took Raz along with her two-year-old sister Aviv and their
mother Doron from their home on Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel last month, in a terror attack that saw 1,200 Israelis murdered and 240 taken hostage.
Ohad Munder, 9-year-old, reacts
as he meets with his family members after he returned to Israel to the
designated complex at the Schneider Children's Medical Center, during a
temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Petah Tikva, Israel
A Hamas terrorist has his arm around Ohad as he is released to the Red Cross
Yesterday the Asher family cuddled each
other on a hospital bed at Schneider Children's Hospital after they were
released in the first group of hostages as part of a four-day
ceasefire. Doctors said the hostages appeared in good physical health
but would need a long period of psychological therapy.
Yoni,
37, said: 'I am determined to help my family recover from the terrible
trauma and loss we went through, for the future of the girls and Doron.
Complex days are still ahead of me. I am happy that I got my family back
but I don't celebrate.
'I won't celebrate until the last of the hostages returns.'
Last
night Hamas cruelly delayed a second hostage release for hours. But
after Israel threatened to restart military strikes, the terror group
eventually handed over a further 13 Israelis to the Red Cross in Gaza.
Earlier,
tear-jerking footage showed the moment nine-year-old Ohad Munder broke
into a sprint and ran into the grateful arms of his father, who scooped
him up in a big hug.
Ohad had
previously been seen in the clutches of a Hamas terrorist late on Friday
in footage of the hostage handover. The boy had spent his ninth
birthday in captivity with his mother Keren Munder, 54, and grandmother
Ruthi, 78. A cousin, Itay Raviv, 27, told The Mail on Sunday: 'We are
just so delighted they are all back with us. But we still have one more
family member and 200 hostages out in Gaza. All the families need to be
as happy as we are at the moment.'
Itay,
who was due to meet up with his relatives at the hospital last night,
said: 'I spoke to them briefly on the phone. They sound OK but they have
been through an immense trauma. That trauma will take some time to
recover. The reality is their lives have been destroyed. They were
disconnected from everything for nearly 50 days. They just need time to
get their lives back together, I've seen a picture of Ohad playing with a
Rubik's cube and he loves playing with that.
'He
just needs some normality now. It will be a long period of recovery for
them – how does a nine-year-old come back from this hell?'
Emilia Aloni, five, freed with her mother Danielle, 44, pictured hugging her grandmother
Daniele Aloni embracing members of her family upon her release by Hamas and arrival in Israel
Danielle was seen in a Hamas propaganda video screaming at Israeli authorities to arrange their release
Emilia
Aloni, five, freed with her mother Danielle, 44, was pictured hugging
her grandmother. Danielle was seen in a Hamas propaganda video screaming
at Israeli authorities to arrange their release.
Her
cousin Alana Zeitchik said: 'I feel there is some light; my heart is
screaming. We are crying and crying. To see them returning is
indescribable. It's also bittersweet, partly because we are still
waiting for four more family members to return and also because we know
how much trauma they are carrying.'
Last
night, Professor Silvana Fennig, director of the department of
psychological medicine at Schneider Hospital, said: 'Teams of
psychologists and psychiatrists are ready for them and we are also ready
to help the families. The children and the adults are in a good and
stable physical condition, but it is too early to say more about the
emotional state of the children.'
The
Israeli captives were released, along with ten Thai nationals and one
Filipino, in exchange for 39 Palestinian prisoners. They were women and
teenage boys held for rioting and other crimes in the West Bank. Last
night, it emerged one of the freed women prisoners had stabbed an
Israeli border guard in 2015.
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