From the Liveblog of
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Survivor struck with emotion at the sight of Nahal Oz sisters’ release from Gaza
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleCanaan Lidor is a former Jewish World reporter at The Times of Israel
Amir Tibon grips his head with emotion as he studies the first picture of Ela and Dafna Elyakim, 8 and 15, after their release from captivity in Gaza this evening.
Tibon, a journalist and member of Nahal Oz, tells another journalist: “I worried about all of them, all the three members of our kibbutz. But I’m telling you: Dafna was the one I thought the most about. She was the sunshine of the kibbutz. I have been waiting for this picture for 51 days.”
The sisters and Nahal Oz resident Elma Avraham, 84, are part of a group of 14 Israelis released by Hamas today in return for 39 Palestinian prisoners.
Tibon, who survived the October 7 massacre thanks to his father, a retired general who rescued the family, is relieved to see the sisters are in good health.
“They look the same,” he says several times. But his forehead creases with worry at the sight of Avraham lying down in an ambulance during the transfer.
“She’s in a completely different state,” he says in Mishmar Haemek, a kibbutz near Afula where most of Nir Oz’s survivors have been staying since they were evacuated.
The Times of Israel Community.