Emily Hand, released late Saturday night after 50 days in Hamas captivity in Gaza, is recuperating at the Safra children’s hospital in Tel Hashomer, Tel Aviv, surrounded by family.
“She’s lost a lot of weight from her face and body, but generally doing better than we expected,” said her father, Dublin-born Tom Hand, on Sunday.
“We are still fighting and want Raya Rotem, Hila’s mother, back. They promised they wouldn’t release children without their mothers, but they did.”
Raya is the mother of 13-year-old Hila Rotem Shoshani, Emily’s friend, where she was staying at a sleepover on the morning of October 7th. All three were seized by Hamas gunmen from kibbutz Be’eri, close to the Gaza border on October 7th.
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Hila, who was released together with Emily, told Israeli media that her mother was present with her during the entire period of captivity, except for the last two days. “Hamas separated us two days before the liberation,” she said, adding that her mother was in good condition.
The third batch of hostages was released from Gaza on Sunday night – 13 Israelis, including nine children, and four foreign residents, one a man with joint Israeli-Russian nationality. An 84-year-old Israeli woman was classified in serious condition and was separated from the others at the border and flown directly to Beersheva’s Seroka hospital for emergency medical treatment.
Large crowds, cheering and waving Israeli flags, many in tears, lined the route as the hostage convoy passed by the southern town of Ofakim.
Residents of Gaza city testified that the hostages released on Sunday were taken out of a hiding place in the city, where they were handed over to the Red Cross. The Israeli military has captured most of the city but a few areas are still under Hamas control.
US president Joe Biden welcomed the release of four-year-old Avigail Idan, the first American citizen to be released from Hamas captivity, after being captured from kibbutz Kfar Azza after her parents were murdered in front of her.
“What she endured is unthinkable,” he said in remarks immediately after she entered Israeli territory, noting the continued results of US diplomatic efforts aimed at securing the release of hostages as well as increased humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Israel on Sunday released 39 Palestinian prisoners, most of them women and minors from the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
On Monday, the last of the four prisoner release instalments is due to take place. Israel has agreed to extend the truce by an additional day for every 10 hostages freed by Hamas, above the original 50 agreed to in the original deal. Israel believes there are at least another 20 women and children hostages in Gaza and there is cautious optimism that the truce can be extended. Hamas says it wants a new deal to extend the ceasefire and Mr Biden also made clear the aim is to extend the truce beyond Monday.
Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited the Gaza Strip on Sunday and sounded determined to continue the fighting after the ceasefire.
“We will continue until the end – until victory. Nothing will stop us,” he said. “We are here in the Strip with our brave soldiers. We are making every effort to bring back our captives, and ultimately we will bring them all back. We have three objectives in this war: to eliminate Hamas, to return all our captives and to ensure that Gaza does not revert to being a threat to Israel.”
The main thrust of a renewed Israeli military operation is expected to be Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip.
