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David Cunio

Brothers David, Eitan and Ariel Cunio, from left, stand outside the Berlin theater Babylon before a screening of a documentary about their family, Feb. 20, 2026. (Toby Axelrod via JTA)
February 23, 2026, 4:22 am
At Berlinale, former hostages view film about their captivity rewritten after release
Tom Shoval’s ‘Letter to David’ first aired at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival but was given a new ending and a second premiere after the release of David and Ariel Cunio
By Toby Axelrod
Released hostage Ariel Cunio and former hostage Arbel Yehoud reunited on October 13, 2025 (Courtesy Hostages Forum)
February 15, 2026, 8:51 pm
Former hostage couple dreams of space (travel) and time to recover and rebuild their home
Launching crowdfunding campaign as they work their way back to life, Ariel Cunio and Arbel Yehoud say they’re learning to breathe again after horrors of lengthy solitary captivities
By Jessica Steinberg
Former hostage David Cunio speaks to Channel 12, in an interview aired on January 12, 2026. (Channel 12 screenshot)
January 13, 2026, 3:13 am
Freed hostage David Cunio says he weighed suicide by overdosing during captivity
In interview, former captive says for a long period, he lived off of 250ml of water and half a pita a day; walked 20km through tunnel to flee fighting while in Gaza
By ToI Staff
Sylvia Cunio, center, stands flanked by Sharon Alony Cunio (R) and Arbel Yehoud (L) at Sheba Medical Center, on October 15, 2025, after the release of her sons David and Ariel Cunio from Hamas captivity days earlier. (Alon Gilboa/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
November 8, 2025, 8:04 am
Hostages’ mom Sylvia Cunio says ‘unreal joy’ to have sons home, but won’t return to Nir Oz
Longtime advocate speaks of how sons David and Ariel have changed, and of her deep mourning for all those lost from her community
By Jessica Steinberg
Yosef-Haim Ohana arrives at a hospital following his release from two years of captivity in Gaza, October 13, 2025. (Shauli Landner/Government Press Office)
October 15, 2025, 11:36 pm
Handcuffed, caged, thrown in a pit: Hostages’ families describe two years of hell
‘The road for recovery is going to be a very long one’: Families of freed captives share harrowing details of their time in Gaza, from starvation to psychological torture
By Diana Bletter, Jessica Steinberg, Rossella Tercatin and Nava Freiberg
From L-R: Miri Ben Ami, mother of freed hostage; Rivka Bohbot, wife of freed hostage Elkana Bohbot; Avi Ohana, the father of released hostage Yosef Chaim Ohana; Liran Berman, brother of freed hostages Gali and Ziv Berman; and Maccabit Meir, the Bermans' aunt, speaking at Sheba Hospital on October 14, 2025. (Credit: Oriel Even Sapir/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
October 15, 2025, 1:34 am
‘Coming back to life’: Freed hostages’ families give updates, thanks; some snub PM
Relatives of many of the 20 released captives thank Trump, IDF, Israeli nation as they detail the physical and emotional scars from Gaza that the freed hostages bear
By ToI Staff
The 20 living hostages released on October 13, 2025: First row, from left: Elkana Bohbot, Matan Angrest, Avinatan Or, Yosef-Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel. Second row, from let: Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Rom Braslavski, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman. Third row, from left: Eitan Mor, Segev Kalfon, Nimrod Cohen, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn. Final row, from left: Matan Zangauker, Bar Kupershtein, David Cunio, Ariel Cunio, Omri Miran.
October 11, 2025, 2:46 pm
The final 20 living hostages released from Gaza
First phase of Trump’s Gaza deal sees return of 20 living hostages; bodies of 28 others are also supposed to be returned
By Agencies and ToI Staff
Demonstrators gather with banners during a protest for a hostage-release and ceasefire deal outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem on October 4, 2025. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
October 5, 2025, 3:08 pm
All parties seem eager for deal to end war as teams head to Egypt for crucial talks
Hamas team to be led by man Israel just tried to kill; cautious optimism takes hold despite reported split in Hamas, potential snags; Arab countries praise terror group’s ‘readiness’ to meet key demands
By Emanuel Fabian, Lazar Berman, Agencies and ToI Staff
Iair Horn at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on September 9, 2025 (Ran Melamed/Hostage and Missing Families Forum)
September 9, 2025, 4:23 pm
‘Shameful’: Freed hostages chide lawmakers for lack of support and compassion
‘Why aren’t you by our side? Is it because they’re not your family members?’ asks Sharon Alony Cunio; Iair Horn: ‘This is my little brother, I will not give up on him’
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
Release hostage Yarden Bibas speaks to Channel 12, in an interview on May 20, 2025. (Channel 12 screenshot)
May 21, 2025, 12:09 pm
Released hostage Yarden Bibas says he encountered Yahya Sinwar in tunnel
Bibas, whose family was murdered in captivity, asked to remain with lifelong friend and fellow captive David Cunio; terror chief agreed, though they were later separated
By ToI Staff
Argentina's President Javier Milei waves as he arrives for his speech at the Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 23, 2025. (AP Photo/ Markus Schreiber)
May 20, 2025, 9:36 am
Argentine President Milei to visit Israel in June, with focus on ties and hostages
Philosemitic leader will sign memorandum of understanding between Jerusalem and Buenos Aires affirming freedom, democracy and fight against antisemitism, says embassy source
By Nava Freiberg and ToI Staff
Yarden Bibas is interviewed on CBS's 60 Minutes, March 30, 2025 (CBS 60 Minutes)
March 31, 2025, 10:51 am
Yarden Bibas to 60 Minutes: Only Trump can convince Netanyahu, Hamas to renew ceasefire-hostage deal
CBS show speaks with five former hostages, who describe witnessing sexual assault, suicidal thoughts and seeing the US president as their last hope
By Jacob Magid
David Cunio, right, with his twin brother, Eitan Cunio in footage for the film 'Letter to David,' being screened at the February 2025 Berlinale and made by filmmaker Tom Shoval after David Cunio was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)
February 23, 2025, 11:47 am
In Berlin, Israeli director screens homage to hostage David Cunio and his family
Filmmaker Tom Shoval filmed a ‘kind of letter’ to the onetime actor — who starred in his 2013 film ‘Youth’ — and his family and friends, including Yarden and Shiri Bibas
By Jessica Steinberg
Protesters hold a picture of David Cunio at the Knesset on February 17, 2025, on the 500th day since Hamas's invasion, slaughter and abductions in southern Israel. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
February 17, 2025, 11:49 pm
Freed hostage tells family David Cunio alive in Gaza, in first sign of life
Former captive spent time with Nir Oz father, who remains hostage along with brother Ariel; days after release, Iair Horn tells rally, ‘We’re out of time’
By ToI Staff
David Cunio was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)
December 17, 2023, 8:57 pm
David Cunio, abducted by Hamas from burning house in Nir Oz, released after 738 days
Wife and daughters, also taken hostage on October 7 from Nir Oz, were released on November 27, 2023; Cunio and brother Ariel released in phase one of Trump’s plan to end the war
By ToI Staff
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