[ad_1] Touching pictures show the moment Israeli families were reunited with their children who were released by Hamas on Friday after 48 days in ca
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Touching pictures show the moment Israeli families were reunited with their children who were released by Hamas on Friday after 48 days in captivity.
It comes as the terrorist group delays releasing the next group of 13 hostages following alleged violations of the truce deal by Israel.
A senior Hamas official claimed the terror group delayed the release of more hostages because Israel only let three out of 100 aid trucks into northern Gaza as part of their humanitarian truce deal, The Sun reports.
He further alleged Israel flew drones over southern Gaza, killed two Palestinians in an area where civilians are free to move, and made changes to the agreed list of Palestinian prisoners to be released.
Israel denied breaking the terms of the truce deal, telling AFP: “Israel has not violated the agreement.”
Yesterday, Hamas militants handed over 13 terrified Israeli women and children after holding them captive for 48 days.
The hostages were pulled from blacked-out vans by masked Hamas militants and passed over to Red Cross workers.
Heartwarming footage released by an Israeli children’s hospital shows the moment nine-year-old Ohad Munder was reunited with his family.
The clip shows him carrying a cuddly toy, turning a corner in the hospital and waving to two relatives including his father.
Ohad runs to greet them as his dad picks him up and spins him round in a touching reunion.
The nine-year-old was freed yesterday alongside 12 other Israeli women and children – several from the same families.
Ohad’s cousin said: “I’m waiting to see Ohad and can’t wait to give him his Rubik’s cube which I know he really loved and he probably missed it so much. That’s the first thing he takes everywhere he goes.”
Pictures of the released hostages show Ohad playing with a Rubik’s cube on a flight with his mother and grandmother, presumably on his way home.
The nine-year-old, his mother and grandmother Ruth who were also kidnapped are apparently in good health.
But his grandfather, Avraham, is reportedly still in captivity in Gaza according to the Hindustan Times.
A heartwarming picture also released by the children’s hospital shows 5-year-old Emilia Aloni reuniting with her grandmother.
She was taken with her mother Daniel on October 7, and Ohad was snatched alongside his mother Keren Munder.
Yaffa Adar, 85, who was kidnapped on October 7 and pictured riding on the back of a Hamas buggy, was also released.
Her granddaughter Orian Adar said her family was “very excited” to see her.
“Her resilience moved us very much, it’s inspiring,” she said.
“We ask everyone to remember, we can’t see the sun yet because there are many more people still out there.
“We need everyone with us at home, don’t stop until the last abductee comes home to us.,” Sky News reports.
Yoni Asher, whose wife Doron and daughters – Raz, 4, and Aviv, 2, – was reunited with his family on Friday.
Their four-year-old daughter said: “I dreamt that we were going home,” to which her father said: “We are home, we are going to our house soon.”
All 13 Israeli hostages were sent to separate hospitals across Israel, where medical staff said most of them appeared to be in good physical health.
Footage of the innocent women and children being released is hard to watch – one woman was even unable to walk on her own and had to be carried from van to van.
She could be seen gripping onto the Hamas fighter as he carried her the short distance between the two vehicles.
The women and children were released after being held hostage for nearly 50 days, during the second day of the ceasefire.
More hostages are expected to be released over the coming days during the pause in fighting.
Israeli authorities have said 13 more hostages will be freed by Hamas today in exchange for 42 Palestinian prisoners.
Hamas agreed to free at least 50 of the 240 hostages it snatched on October 7 in return for 150 Palestinian prisoners kept in Israeli prisons.
Both sides said they would release women and children first.
And yesterday Qatar confirmed that 39 women and children kept in Israeli prisons – mostly teenagers imprisoned for minor offences – were also let go.
The footage, released by Hamas, showed the masked fighters handing over Israeli and Thai civilians to international aid workers.
A total of 24 hostages were freed from Gaza, 13 Israeli women and children, 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino.
No British hostages were released on Friday, according to Sky News.
The truce-for-hostages deal was reached after weeks of intense negotiations – with Qatar, the United States and Egypt serving as mediators.
If it holds, it will mark the first significant break in fighting since Israel declared war on Hamas seven weeks ago, raising hopes of eventually winding down the war.
The pause in fighting comes after bomb-blitzed Gaza was relentlessly pummelled by Israel’s airstrikes and ground operation.
Netanyahu insisted that Israel’s mission remains unchanged, stating that the offensive will resume once the ceasefire period ends.
He said: “We are at war and we will continue the war until we achieve all our goals.”
An IDF spokesperson had claimed that around 215 hostages remain in Gaza.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed on Friday evening that 13 Israeli hostages and 11 foreign nationals were freed.
He said in a video statement: “I emphasise to you, the families, and to you, the citizens of Israel: We are committed to returning all our hostages.
“This is one of the war’s objectives, and we’re committed to achieving all of the war’s objectives.”
In return for the hostages, 39 Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons were freed, a Qatari official said.
Among those freed today were Danielle Aloni and her six-year-old daughter Emilia who were horrifyingly kidnapped in Kibbutz Nir Oz while they were visiting family.
Danielle’s sister and brother-in-law Sharon Aloni-Cunio and David Cunio are reportedly still hostages alongside their three-year-old twin daughters.
Adina Moshe, 72, was also taken from her home in Nir Oz moments after her husband was slaughtered by the terrorists and Doron Katz Asher, 34, and her two brave young daughters Aviv and Raz were all kidnapped in the same area.
The mother and her two and four-year-old girls were taken as they visited a relatives house.
Keren and Ohan Munder and Ruth Munder, 78, were all released today after they were rounded up and forced to leave Ruth’s house.
Ruth’s partner and Ohad’s grandfather is thought to still be held by Hamas as only women and children were among those let go.
Hana Katzir, 76, was also sensationally freed after Hamas forces reportedly claimed she had died earlier this week.
The final three people saved in the first set of releases were Margalit Moses, 77, Yaffa Adar, 85, and Hanna Peri, 79.
Yoni Asher, husband to Doron and father of their two little girls who were freed on Friday said: “I am determined to help my family recover from the terrible trauma and loss we went through”.
Palestinian people in the West Bank also celebrated as their civilians were released from the Ofer military base, AFP reports.
One freed prisoner, Marah Bakir, 24, said: “I spent the end of my childhood and my adolescence in prison, far from my parents and their hugs.”
This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission
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