Released hostage Ohad Ben Ami arrives at Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv, as he reunites with his daughters after 491 days in Hamas captivity, February 8, 2025. (Haim Tsach/GPO)
Released hostage Ohad Ben Ami reunites with his daughters at a hospital in central Israel after 491 days in captivity in Gaza, footage shows.
In the video, his three daughters, Yulie, Ella, and Natalie Ben Ami, are seen running into their father’s arms, squealing with joy.
His mother, Esther, joins the embrace, followed by his wife Raz Ben Ami, also a former Hamas captive, as the just-released hostage smiles and strokes their heads lovingly.
The family is seen happily chatting and catching up, in the halls of Tel Aviv’s Ichilov hospital.
“Dad, we love you! We missed you so much,” the young women can be heard saying.
One of his daughters tells her father that she began her IDF service while he was in captivity. “I’ve been in the army for eight months,” she says, kneeling at her father’s feet.
“I’m proud of you,” he says.
Ohad tells his family that he wants to hear about what happened on October 7, 2023, when he and his wife were kidnapped from their home on Kibbutz Be’eri during Hamas’s brutal onslaught that sparked the war in Gaza. Raz was released in November 2023 during a week-long truce.
“I need to know what happened that day,” he says.
Released hostage Ohad Ben Ami reunites with his family at Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv after 491 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza, February 8, 2025. (Haim Tsach/GPO)
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From the Liveblog of
Saturday, February 8, 2025
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