Israel on Sunday received 13 hostages freed by the Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and awaits the arrival of another 4, who were received by the Red Cross and are being transferred to Israeli territory, according to Israeli and Palestinian official sources.
These are the stories of those released in this third group.
Abigail Idan
At the age of 3, Abigail Idan became a symbol: a symbol of Hamas's cruelty, a symbol of great pain, a symbol of hope for the return of the abductees. Two days after celebrating his fourth birthday in captivity, he is finally on his way to Israel. The girl who was kidnapped in Gaza with Hagar Brodach and her children, but will never see her parents again. His father, Ynet photographer Roi Idan, documented the terrorists' entry into Gaza City in the first minutes of the surprise attack, before he was killed along with his mother Samdar.
Little Abigail fled from the terrorists covered in Father Roy's blood, and neighbor Avichai Brodach, who recognized him, ran to her, picked her up at his house, and saved her. He went to the emergency room and when he returned home he discovered that his wife, children, and Abigail had been kidnapped.
Abigail's siblings, Michael, 9, and Amelia, 6, hid for 14 hours in closets in the house and survived the massacre. Today they will see their little sister for the first time since October 7.
Agar, Ofri, Yuval and Uriah Brodach
Avichai Brodach, who rescued Abigail Idan and immediately went to the emergency room in Kfar Gaza, fought for 51 days to return to Gaza his family members who were kidnapped while he was fighting the terrorists who infiltrated the kibbutz: his wife Hagar (40) and their three children Ofri (10). Yuval (8) and Uriah (4). He launched a protest strike in front of the Kirya in Tel Aviv a week after the October 7 massacre, demanding "change the policy – first return the abductees," and was also the first among the families of the abductees to meet with a government representative in Qatar, the ambassador to Washington.
Alma Avraham. 51 days in captivity, at the age of 84. Photo: ynet.co.il
She and Dafna Elikim
Eight-year-old Ella Eliakim and her 15-year-old sister Dafna were kidnapped in Nahal Oz after witnessing the murder of their father Noam, his partner Dekla Araba and their daughter Tomer. The terrorists broke into his home on October 7, filmed all the family members sitting scared in a corner of the house, with Father Noam bleeding, and the videos were uploaded to social media.
The mother, Mein Tzin, said the girls "saw horrors, they saw the murder of their father, their partner and their son in front of their eyes, and I don't know what else they saw. But I can't afford them to fall apart, I have to bring them home and then I'll have to restore them from everything they've been through."
On the third day of the war, a message was delivered on behalf of Maj. Gen. Doron Almog, chairman of the Jewish Agency, according to which six members of his family were killed in a massacre, exactly 20 years after he lost five relatives in an attack on the Maxim restaurant in Haifa.
Israeli abductees. Photo: ynet.co.il
Chen, Agam, Tal and Gal Goldstein-Almog
Chen Goldstein-Almog (48) and his sons Agam (17), Gal (11) and Tal (9), who were initially believed to have been killed, were kidnapped and released today. Father Nadav and his daughter Haylat Yam were killed in the massacre. Chen's father, Giora Almog, was a kindergarten teacher in Kfar Gaza for more than 30 years. He, Grandma Shlomit and Nadav's parents were in Bulgaria at the time of the massacre, two weeks after Giora presided over the memorial service for family members who were killed in Maxim's attack.
Alma Avraham
More than seven weeks in captivity, at the age of 84. Alma Avraham, a member of Kibbutz Nahal Oz for 49 years, was released from captivity in Gaza after being abducted on 7 October. In the photograph that circulated at the time, she was seen riding a motorcycle into the Gaza Strip between two armed terrorists
Aviva Siegel
Keith and Aviva. She was released, but he remains in captivity. Photo: ynet.co.il
Aviva Siegel, 62, was kidnapped with her husband Keith, 64. His daughter Shir said the terrorists took them to the Gaza Strip in Keith's father's car. Aviva, the kindergarten teacher, mother of four and grandmother of five, was also a nanny for Agam Goldstein-Almog, who was released with her in the third blow of the deal. But Keith remained in the hands of the terrorists.
Ronnie Cariboy
A day after the release of Mia Regev, the first kidnapped woman from the Yid Ra'im Nature Party to be released from captivity, the first worker of the "Nova" festival, Roni Cariboy, 25, from Karmiel, was released on Sunday.
Cariboy worked on the party's amplification team. According to the indications, he managed to escape from the scene of the massacre and hid for hours in a pit, not far from the party. In the morning he texted his family, "I'm fine," and sent a location to a friend. A little later, the same friend received a message from Roni: "They're here." Her brother Igor said that in the last call received on Roni's cell phone, her friends heard words in Arabic and the call was cut off.