In emotional scenes, freed hostages are reunited with families and pets
Siblings Maya and Itay Regev meet after being released separately from Gaza; 13-year-old Gali Tarshansky runs to her mom; Raaya Rotem joins daughter Hila at Sheba
Videos and photos released Thursday showed emotional reunions as hostages released from Gaza the previous night after 54 days in captivity met family and loved ones.
The 12 Israelis, who were released Wednesday as part of a temporary truce with Hamas, were being treated at Soroka Medical Center, Sheba Medical Center, Ichilov Medical Center and Schneider Children’s Hospital, while four released Thai citizens were at Shamir (Assaf Harofeh) Medical Center.
The freed hostages will undergo thorough medical and psychological evaluations and receive all necessary care from specially trained medical and psychosocial teams.
In Beersheba, Soroka Medical Center shared joyful photos of Itay Regev, 18, reuniting with his sister Maya Regev, 21, who was freed four days earlier.
Itay was greeted with an emotional embrace from his mother Mirit at Hatzerim Airbase late Wednesday night. The siblings were kidnapped from the Supernova music festival on October 7, where hundreds were mowed down by terrorists.
Separately, a video showed Gali Tarshansky, 13, the youngest hostage released on Wednesday, running to her mother Reuma Aroussi at Hatzerim and embracing her for long moments.
Tarshansky was grabbed as she and her father Ilya jumped out of their safe room window after terrorists set their home in Kibbutz Be’eri on fire. Her 15-year-old brother Lior Tarshansky was murdered, while her father survived.
Aroussi has been one of the public faces of the battle to return the hostages home.
גלי טרשצ׳נסקי נחטפה מהממ״ד בבארי בשבת השחורה והספיקה לסמס ״אנחנו הולכים למות״ אחיה ליאור בן ה-15 נרצח. כלבתה מוקה נורתה גם היא.
בת 13. לבד. כמעט חודשיים בעזה. בלתי נתפס.
הלילה התכנסה לראשונה לחיבוק של אמא ראומה.
ציפור קטנה בלב pic.twitter.com/jSY1CCLPT5— Raz Shechnik (@RazShechnik) November 30, 2023
Tarshansky was also photographed with her father as they flew by helicopter from Hatzerim to Schneider Wednesday night.
Yarden Roman-Gat’s brother told Channel 12 Thursday that for the majority of the time she was held by Hamas in Gaza, she didn’t know if her daughter or husband were alive.
Roman-Gat, 36, was visiting the kibbutz for the holiday with her family. The three were taken and forced into a car heading toward Gaza, but seized an opportunity to jump out when the terrorists were distracted by a nearby IDF tank. Yarden handed Geffen to Alon as they split up, knowing he could run faster than she could. They ran and she was caught.
“For more than half the time she was [in Gaza], maybe an entire month, she was living in that fog of uncertainty,” Gili Roman said of his sister. Then, “she heard about it by chance when the radio was playing.
“She heard Gil [Dikman], Alon’s cousin, who dedicated a song to Kinneret, Geffen’s grandmother,” he explained. Kinneret Gat was killed in her home in Kibbutz Be’eri, and her daughter Carmel was taken hostage.
“He dedicated the song to Kinneret and mentioned that Carmel and Yarden were taken hostage. And from that, she understood that because he didn’t mention Alon or Geffen, it meant they were alive.
“It gave her so much strength and hope, that bit of light.”
Describing the reunion between the family on Wednesday night, Roman said that while the time spent in captivity wasn’t easy on his sister, “she’s still the same Yarden we knew.”
“Geffen told her she’d missed her to the end of the world and back again, and at 4 a.m., we met her at the hospital and she hugged Geffen, and in that moment she was a mother again. She was our sister again.”
When the Gat family was captured by Hamas on Oct 7, they were forced on a truck and driven toward Gaza.
Just before crossing the border, they jumped from the truck and ran for their lives. Yarden handed 3-year-old Gefen to her husband knowing he could run faster.
Yarden was… pic.twitter.com/SHa0jN6zYG
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) November 30, 2023
Another family reunited late Wednesday when Raaya Rotem, 54, was released from Gaza and joined her daughter Hila Rotem, 13, at Sheba in Ramat Gan.
Hila was freed on November 25, without her mother, in what was viewed as a breach of the agreement between Israel and Hamas not to separate mothers and children in the releases.
According to Prof. Itai Pessach, director of the Edmond and Lily Safra Children’s Hospital at Sheba, the six women brought there Wednesday were suffering from various injuries, though none were life-threatening.
A number of women were hospitalized along with their children. All were in stable condition.
“We were privileged to accompany the reunions of many families on one hand, but we were also exposed to the complex and difficult stories of these people during their time of captivity,” Pessach says.
“Tonight we were especially moved by the reunion of Raaya and Hila Rotem. Hila has been with us since her release from captivity and we, along with the entire Israeli nation, were very much looking forward to this reunion,” he added.
Also at Sheba, Moran Stela Yanai reunited with her family and her dog after her release.
Yanai, 40, was abducted from the Supernova music festival on October 7, where she was selling handmade jewelry.
Another woman released Wednesday, Raz Ben Ami, 57, reunited with her three daughters, Yuli, Ella and Natalie, at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov after 54 days in captivity. Ben Ami was taken from Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7 along with her husband, Ohad, also 57, who is still held hostage in Gaza. They both hold Israeli and German citizenship.
In a bittersweet reunion at Hatzerim, Liam Or, 18, embraced his father. Or was taken captive with his cousins Alma and Noam, who were freed on Saturday. Yonat Or — Alma and Noam’s mother, and Liam’s aunt — was murdered on October 7. Dror Or, Liam’s uncle and Alma and Noam’s father, is still believed to be held captive in Gaza.
Meanwhile in Australia, the sister of Amit Shani, 16, who was also freed from captivity Wednesday evening, was beyond excited to hear the news of her brother’s release.
Shani, who lived on Kibbutz Be’eri, was the only member of his family taken hostage.
BREAKING- Amit Shani, Mika Shani’s brother was just released from Hamas captivity.
Mika who is currently in Australia on a delegation advocating for the release of their family members, is headed home to meet him! pic.twitter.com/TTMHEGrbeO
— Israel in Australia (@IsraelinOZ) November 29, 2023
The captives were released as part of a temporary ceasefire agreement that has so far seen 97 civilians released from Hamas captivity in Gaza: 73 Israelis, 23 Thai nationals, and 1 Filipino.
Israel estimates that there are still 145 hostages — including 15 civilian women and children — being held in Gaza and insists the terror group release all remaining civilian women and children before additional agreements are considered.
