Freed hostage Amit Shani’s grandma: ‘I didn’t believe we’d get to this moment’

Simcha Shani, grandmother of Amit Shani who was released from captivity in Gaza, says she is “so happy” to see her grandson coming back to Israel, but was worried this day would never come.

“I didn’t believe we’d get to this moment. I was so happy when I was told last night that Amit was coming home and I’m really impatient to see him now,” she says after hearing the news together with dozens of Kibbutz Be’eri members at the David Hotel at the Dead Sea where they have been evacuated.

“The last 53 days were very difficult. Every day was so sad. At the beginning, there was no talk even of negotiations. We were so worried, because he’s a very sensitive kid, he’s delicate and sweet.

“We didn’t know how he could survive something like this, and today I think to myself ‘What has he gone through mentally, where will he be?’”