Israel-Gaza conflict: Four-year-old hostage Avigail Idan freed from Hamas after father shot dead by militants

Avigail Idan’s parents were killed during an attack on the Kfar Aza kibbutz on October 7.

A family member claimed her father had been holding her while he was shot dead by militants.

She managed to survive and ran to hide with neighbours, but was hauled off by Hamas fighters shortly after.

Avigail’s siblings, who hid in a closet for 14 hours, managed to escape capture and were later rescued.

“We hoped and prayed today would come. There are no words to express our relief and gratitude that Avigail is safe and coming home,” said Liz Hirsh Naftali, Avigail’s great aunt, and cousin Noa Naftali in a statement.

The pair thanked US President Joe Biden, the Qatari government, and others involved in securing Avigail’s release throughout the long-awaited ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking on Monday, President Biden acknowledged the “terrible trauma” Avigail had endured while being held captive.

“Today she’s free, and Jilly [first lady of the US Jill Biden] and I, together with so many Americans, are praying for the fact that she is going to be alright,” he said, adding that the four-year-old had “endured the unthinkable”.

“We continue to press and expect that additional Americans will be released as well,” he said.

“We will be not stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones.”

Fourteen of the 17 hostages released were Israeli, and three were Thai nationals.

Under the truce, 50 hostages held by the militants will be exchanged for 150 Palestinian prisoners. A built-in mechanism extends it if at least 10 Israeli captives are released each day.

Israeli leaders, however, have tempered hopes of a lasting halt to the offensive.

“We continue until the end — until victory,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in Gaza on Sunday.

Wearing green military fatigues and surrounded by soldiers, he vowed to free all the hostages and “eliminate Hamas”.

“Nothing will stop us, and we are convinced that we have the power, the strength, the will and the determination to achieve all the war’s goals.”

In the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, residents received a text message from Israeli forces that said they know hostages are being held there.

“The army will neutralise anyone who has kidnapped hostages,” the message said.

Among the Israelis freed Sunday was Elma Avraham, 84, who was being treated at Soroka Medical Center, whose director Shlomi Kodesh said “she is in life-threatening condition” but being treated and would be moved to the intensive care unit.

Also freed were sisters Ely, aged eight, and her sister Dafna, 15, whose father was shot dead during the Hamas attack.

In the previous round of releases, there were smiles, kisses, and tears as Israeli hostage Sharon Avigdori, freed with her daughter Noam, 12, hugged her son and relatives at Sheba hospital, images from the government press office showed.

On Sunday in Ramallah and Beitunia, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, white International Committee of the Red Cross buses delivered the freed prisoners as waiting crowds flew Hamas and Palestinian flags.

Noorhan Awad, a female prisoner released Saturday, said that when she got out of the police car, “it was a great moment. Freedom is priceless.”

Hamas’s military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said Sunday that its northern brigade commander Ahmed Al-Ghandour and four other senior leaders had been killed, without specifying when.

The pause in fighting has allowed more aid to reach Palestinians struggling to survive with shortages of water and other essentials, but Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), warned of “unprecedented” humanitarian needs.

“We should send 200 lorries a day continuously for at least two months,” he said.

The UN estimates that 1.7 million of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced by the fighting.

– with AFP