Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: ALL 20 remaining living Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas after more than two years in captivity in Gaza. Parents were reunited with sons and children with fathers as those held were handed over to the Red Cross before finally rejoining their families with the help of the Israeli army. Even before their release, Hamas had allowed some of the hostages to make video calls home on October 14 morning.
Emotional footage was shared by Israeli broadcasters to an estimated 65,000 people gathered in front of large screens on “hostages square” in Tel Aviv and to millions more watching the coverage at home.
In a statement the family of Omri Miran, 48, who was abducted in front of his wife and two children during Hamas’s attack on Israel of 7 October 2023 at Nahal Oz kibbutz, said his return was a victory for “an entire people.”
Palestinians freed from Israeli jails were received by crowds waving flags joyfully as they arrived on buses in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Israeli ministers had approved overnight a list of 1,718 Palestinian prisoners set also to be released. That is due to follow the handover of 28 dead Israeli hostages.
The day had begun with Hamas issuing a list of the 20 living hostages – all men – they intended to release. It provided the first firm confirmation to many of the families that their loved ones had not perished. People have been gathering every day for the past two years at hostages square to show solidarity with the families of those in Hamas captivity after their abduction on 7 October 2023.