As freed hostage Omer Shem Tov discharged from hospital, welcoming crowd gathers outside his home

Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Israelis gather outside of freed hostage Omer Shem Tov’s family home in Herzliya to await his return home after he’s discharged from Beilinson Hospital.

Shem Tov was released from Hamas captivity last Saturday. Last week, his mother, Shelly Shem Tov, said that he had been kept for 450 days alone in a tunnel, where he suffered.

Video footage posted on X by national broadcaster Kan shows a flag-waving crowd singing and dancing next to a balloon arch outside his home. They carry signs saying “how good that you’ve come home.”

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