As they’re released from hospital, Cunio brothers vow to keep fighting for remaining captives

Freed hostages David and Ariel Cunio post a message on social media as they prepare to be sent home from Sheba Medical Center today, six days after they were released from Gaza.

“Hello to all our wonderful nation, we were released from the darkness to the light,” say the brothers, who hail from Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border. “We know how much you worked for our release, and we want to thank each of you. You went out in all kinds of weather. In the hardest moments there, we felt you were fighting for us.”

They speak about how their new lives “start now,” as they go home today.

David Cunio promises his two daughters, Emma and Yulia, that he will read them stories before bedtime and hug his wife, Sharon Alony Cunio.

שורדי השבי דוד ואריאל קוניו במסר ראשון: ״המאבק לא נגמר, אסור לעצור עד שהחטוף האחרון חוזר״https://t.co/2TQ5Rx0dW2@shamambo pic.twitter.com/3ZlYCRF4CR

— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) October 19, 2025

The brothers thank their parents and family, and then Ariel Cunio thanks his “beloved” Arbel Yehoud, a former hostage who was freed in January.

But the most important thing, they add, is to thank the IDF and Israeli security forces, and the families who “paid the biggest price” in the war: “You are our heroes.”

They also speak about the remaining hostages whose bodies haven’t yet been released to Israel and say they will not stop fighting “until the last hostage returns to us.”