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Or Levy

L-R Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in Jerusalem, June 15, 2026 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) and Nitzan Alon at the Herzliya Conference at the Reichman University, July 1, 2026 (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
July 1, 2026, 1:29 pm
Disputing Smotrich, ex-hostage pointman says more captives could have come home alive
Nitzan Alon says the war could have ended at least a year earlier, but ‘cabinet refused earlier comprehensive deals in the name of total victory, which is a falsehood’
By Emanuel Fabian and ToI Staff
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich holds a press conference at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem, May 19, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
June 29, 2026, 2:05 pm
Smotrich takes credit for return of all hostages; former captive decries ‘gaslighting propaganda’
‘I think it is thanks to me,’ the far-right minister asserts, despite having opposed various deals throughout the Gaza war that would have seen hostages released sooner
By ToI Staff
Eli Sharabi (right) and Roni Kuban (center) during a reading of Sharabi's book 'Hostage' at the International Writers Festival in Jerusalem on May 28, 2026. (Jessica Steinberg/The Times of Israel)
May 29, 2026, 4:05 am
‘Not a day I’m not happy; not a day I don’t feel the loss’: Eli Sharabi on life after captivity
At Jerusalem Writers Festival, author of bestselling ‘Hostage’ talks about mourning his family, time in captivity, regrets from before Oct. 7 and imagining his wife watching him from heaven
By Jessica Steinberg
Gal Hirsch, coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing in the Prime Minister's Office, attends a National Security Committee meeting at the Knesset on November 3, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)
February 1, 2026, 11:37 pm
Ex-hostages demand Gal Hirsch quit after ‘despicable comments’ that protests helped Hamas
Letter accuses government hostage point man of ‘blackmailing us not to speak out against’ Netanyahu and of using his role to seek place on Likud party slate ahead of election
By ToI Staff
Government hostage pointman Gal Hirsch speaks at a press conference in Jerusalem on January 27, 2026. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is at right. (Maayan Toaf/GPO)
February 1, 2026, 11:23 am
‘Shame on you’: Former hostage, families hit back at government’s captives point man
Freed captive Or Levy and others lash Gal Hirsch, who led official campaign for hostages’ return, after he said weekly protests assisted Hamas, created unnecessary ‘urgency’
By ToI Staff and Lazar Berman
Freed Israeli hostage Or Levy speaks at an event organized by the Jewish National Fund South Africa (JNFSA) in in Glenhazel, near Johannesburg, on August 31, 2025. (EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP)
September 2, 2025, 8:30 pm
Former Hamas hostage Or Levy brings awareness of captives’ plight to South Africa
Speaking to Johannesburg’s Jewish community, Levy says ‘I think that everyone needs to hear what I’ve been through and what others are still going through’
By AFP and ToI Staff
Freed hostage Eli Sharabi speaks to Channel 12, in an excerpt from an interview set to be broadcast June 6, 2025. (Screen capture via N12 on X)
June 5, 2025, 12:54 pm
Eli Sharabi: In Gaza, we figured we’d be free already if Israel had different government
Says he and fellow hostages had ‘no doubt’ a different leadership would have secured their release much earlier, and they ‘discussed this exact point’ in Hamas tunnel
By ToI Staff
Former hostages, and relatives of hostages, at a press conference in Tel Aviv, marking 600 days of the hostages' captivity, May 28, 2025 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
May 28, 2025, 3:51 pm
‘Abandoned, forgotten’: Relatives of 58 hostages held in Gaza mark 600 days since Oct. 7
Captives’ loved ones rage against government as protesters across the country call for hostage deal and new elections, almost 20 months after terrorist assault
By Jessica Steinberg and ToI Staff
Idit Ohel, mother of hostage Alon Ohel, speaks during a rally calling for the release of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, March 8, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
April 9, 2025, 9:41 pm
What Matters Now to hostage mom Idit Ohel: Let our captives go!
Son Alon Ohel has shrapnel in his eye but endures with other fellow captives. Now, ahead of Passover, Idit says the entire Jewish nation must demand their freedom
By Jessica Steinberg
Family members of Aner Shapiro, killed protecting others in a roadside shelter at the Nova rave on October 7, 2023, launched an album of his songs on March 27, 2025 in Jerusalem (Courtesy)
March 28, 2025, 4:10 pm
Family releases album of raps composed by Oct. 7 hero Aner Shapiro
Clip of ‘Headstart’ features Aner’s best friend, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, singing the song in the car
By Jessica Steinberg
Bereaved father Moshe Shapiro at an event displaying his caricatures sketched before and after his son, Aner Shapiro, was killed on October 7, 2023 (Courtesy)
March 8, 2025, 8:19 am
Oct. 7 bereaved father draws his hope, sadness and criticism in daily caricatures
Moshe Shapiro, father of hero Aner Shapiro who died protecting Nova partygoers in roadside shelter, seeks his own rehabilitation through a familiar hobby
By Jessica Steinberg
Top left to right: Released hostage Or Levy is embraced by relatives at Sheba Medical Center on February 8, 2025, soon after his release from Hamas captivity; Ohad Ben Ami reunites with his daughters Ella, Natalie and Yuli, and his wife Raz, at Ichilov hospital; bottom: Eli Sharabi (with his back to camera) is embraced by his brother Sharon (left) at Sheba Medical Center. (IDF/Haim Tsach/GPO)
February 15, 2025, 11:46 am
Traumatized and tortured: Freed hostages face arduous road to recovery
While many trauma experts say humans have a remarkable capacity for resilience, studies show that the psychological damage of captivity endures a lifetime
By Diana Bletter
Recently released hostage Keith Siegel thanks US President Donald Trump for his involvement in the hostage release and ceasefire deal, and pleads with the president to ensure all are released, in a video message published on February 14, 2025. (Screenshot)
February 14, 2025, 3:10 pm
‘I was starved and tortured’: Keith Siegel urges Trump to ensure all hostages freed
Dual national tells US president ‘you are the reason I am home alive’; released captive Or Levy visits Hostages Square, days after release from Hamas captivity: ‘Hope dies last’
By ToI Staff and Jessica Steinberg
Idit Ohel, mother of hostage Alon Ohel, interviewed on Channel 12 news, February 9, 2025 (Channel 12 screenshot)
February 9, 2025, 10:37 pm
Pleading for his release, mother says hostage Alon Ohel is wounded, chained in Hamas tunnels
Family of Ohel — who turns 24 on Monday — reports first sign of life since he was taken captive, after testimony from newly freed hostages who were held with him in dire conditions
By ToI Staff
Israeli captives, from left to the right, Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, who have been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, onstage before being handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
February 9, 2025, 4:36 pm
Reports: Newly freed hostages were abused, now suffer malnutrition, heart disorders
Outlets cite families of Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami as saying they were held in Gaza tunnels; health officials: Conditions worse than previous returned captives
By Elana Kirsh, Diana Bletter and ToI Staff
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