A group of people wave Israeli flags in front of the hospital where the four hostages released in Gaza are held; the first Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu hugs one of them and on the beach a lifeguard gives the news over a loudspeaker. Israel, this Saturday, is celebrating.
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The Army had announced shortly before the liberation, in a “complex” operation in the Nuiserat refugee camp, in the center of the Gaza Strip, of Noah Argamani, 26; Almog Meir Jan, 22nd; Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv,
The four had been kidnapped on October 7 during the Nova electronic music festival in southern Israel by militants from Hamas and other Islamist groups.
At the entrance to the Ishilov hospital in Tel Aviv, where she is hospitalized for a brain cancer the mother of Noa Argamani, the patients gathered in the hope of seeing the now former hostage arrive.
“For eight months we have only received stabs in the heart. I’m not talking about myself, I’m talking about the entire nation,” one of the patients, Shlomo Akad, 72, told AFP.
An image of Argamani, shouting “Don’t kill me!” as her kidnappers forced her onto a motorcycle, she had a global impact. Her mother, of Chinese and Israeli nationality, has since published several messages to express her despair at the possibility of dying without seeing her again.
Shouts of joy
Netanyahu met with the freed hostages at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv, according to images released by his office.
In the videos he is seen applauding when a small group wishes a “happy birthday” to Noa Argamani’s father.
In another footage, released by the Hostage Families Forum, Shlomi Ziv hugs her sister and cousin. And in a photo from the Army channel, Two relatives of Almog Meir Jan embrace the 22-year-old young man with emotion.
“I cried so much in the face of so much joy, I couldn’t hold back the tears,” says Hilla Israelí, a 38-year-old teacher who was on the shores of a lake when she heard the news.
“Suddenly everyone started taking out their phones, people were coming out of the water, shouts of joy could be heard everywhere,” he adds.
Mixed feelings
Cécile Belilius, about 60 years old, considers the release of the four hostages as an “exciting” event.
He admits, however, that he has “mixed feelings” when thinking about Palestinian civilian victims of the war and is “hopeful” that negotiations will accelerate to free all hostages and reach a lasting ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.
The press office of the Hamas government in Gaza announced that At least 210 people died and more than 400 were injured in the rescue operation in the Nuseirat field. AFP could not so far confirm this balance with independent sources.
The war began on October 7, when Islamist commandos killed 1,194 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel, according to a count based on official Israeli data.
The militiamen too kidnapped 251 people, 116 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 41 who were reported dead, according to the Israeli army.
The Israeli retaliatory offensive has so far taken its toll the lives of at least 36,801 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Health Ministry of the Hamas government in the Palestinian territory.
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Source: https://www.noticiascaracol.com/mundo/emotivo-reencuentro-de-exrehenes-con-familias-en-israel-llore-tanto-ante-tanta-dicha-cb20
