Hamas released another six hostages on Saturday as part of his cessation agreement with Israel, the last living prisoners to be freed under the current respite in Gaza.
As part of the agreement of ceased the fire, Hamas has committed himself to issuing at least 33 of the almost 100 prisoners who remain in Gaza, some of whom are believed to have died, in exchange for over 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and a partial Israeli retreat. Both parties are destined to negotiate terms to extend the truce, but an agreement appears remote.
Two of the prisoners liberated on Saturday were in the hands of Hamas for about 10 years. Four others were taken during the attack led by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which pushed the Gaza war.
Omer Wennker
Omer Wenkert, 23, was kidnapped during the assault of October 7th while the Palestinian militants attacked a music festival, the tribe of Nova, who was held near the border with Gaza. Videos and photographs of the time of the attack show him to be retained, stripped of the underwear and surrounded by armed men on the back of a truck while he was brought to Gaza.
He was in contact with his family on the morning of the attack and said he was afraid. The relatives later saw the video of his kidnapping. His grandmother, Tsili Wenkert, a survivor of the Holocaust who said he was saved by the Soviet army, appealed to Russian officials to ask for help in guaranteeing the release of his nephew.
Wenkert managed a restaurant in the center of Israel and should have started a management course of the Al College restaurant. His father, Shai Wenkert, begged his freedom near the residence of Mr. Netanyahu in Jerusalem on the first anniversary of the attacks led by Hamas.
In a speech to a group of other relatives of hostages and their supporters, he said: “A whole year in which he stopped. I’m still the same day. “
Elia Cohen
Eliya Cohen, who was 27 years old when he was captured, had also been at the Nova Music Festival. He revealed himself with other participants in the Festival when the militants threw the grenades in their refuge and stormed him, ordering Mr. Cohen and two other men with them, according to his girlfriend, ZIV Abud of Tel Aviv, one of the few survivors of the bunker.
Mrs. Abud had gone to the festival with Mr. Cohen, her nephew and the girl of her nephew. Of the four, he was the only one to return home. Mr. Cohen was hit in the leg during the raid, he said, and hid with him under a pile of dead bodies until he heard him get away from her.
Mr. Cohen’s mother, Sigalit Cohen, told The Guardian in December 2023 that he had left his job as an accountant to put pressure on the release of prisoners. Near the first anniversary of the war and the crisis of the hostages, he wrote in an editorial aimed at the Israelis: “Have we learned something cursed since that day? Did we take on ourselves to be better? “
Hisham al-Sayed
Hisham al-Sayed is a member of the Arab minority of Israelia from the city of Hura. He is one of the two Israeli hostages, together with Hadar Goldin, who were captured by Hamas militants in the Gaza strip many years before the raids of 7 October.
Mr. Al-Sayed entered Gaza in 2015 and was no longer seen until 2022, when Hamas released a video that claimed to show it lying in a bed that seemed stunned and wearing an oxygen mask. Mr. Al-Sayed has schizophrenia, according to his family, and had already tried to enter Gaza. Hamas accused Mr. Al-Say of being an Israeli soldier and it was thought that he would keep him pressure on Israel to release Palestinian prisoners.
In 2017, an investigation into the Human Rights Clock concluded that Al-Sayed was not affiliated with the Israeli military or government. After Hamas captured hundreds of hostages in the assault of 7 Oct.
Mr. Al-Sayed’s father, Shaban Al-Sayed, said that the family was waiting for the return of her son with deep anxiety.
“We don’t know in which condition it will come back,” he said. “We are waiting for it – and when we see it, we will know how much we have to celebrate.”
You would be mengist
Mr. Mengistu, who is now 38 years old, is the longest living Israeli hostage in Gaza. In 2014, almost two weeks after one ceased the fire ended a 50 -day war between Israel and Hamas, Mr. Mengistu was seen in the security videos that walked along the beach before crossing a fence that divided Israel from Gaza.
Born in Ethiopia, Mr. Mengistu emigrated to Israel with his family when he was 5 years old and lived in the coastal city of Ashkelon, about 10 miles north of Gaza. His older brother told the Israeli media that Mr. Mengistu had been deeply affected by the death of another brother and faced serious mental health problems.
Mr. Mengistu was apparently seen in a video released by Hamas in January 2023, although the video could not be verified independently. As with Mr. Al-Sayed, Human Rights Watch subsequently evaluated that he was a civilian with a story of mental health problems.
Omer Shem Tov
Omer Shem Tov was 20 when she was kidnapped with two friends at the Nova Music Festival. His friends – Maya Regev and his brother, Itey Regev – were released during a response from a week between Israel and Hamas in November 2023.
In December 2023, after their release, the Regev appeared in a video together wearing shirts that brought the face of Mr. Shem Tov, pleading his return. “Every day there is like hell,” said Mrs. Regev from a wheelchair, after suffering surgical interventions for a gun wound in the leg.
“I have a friend named Omer and I really miss it,” Italy said. “I know what is passing in there and I know how frightening it is.”
Shem Tov’s older brother, Amit Shem Tov, expressed dismay after the end of the last truce. “The end of the cease is the worst thing that could happen because it seriously delays the release of my brother,” he said.
Tal Shoham
Tal Shoham was 38 years old when he was captured by Kibbutz Bee’eri. His wife, Adi Shoham, and their son and daughter, at the time of 8 and 3 years, were freed in the first agreement of the fire.
At the beginning of last year, the father of Mr. Shoham, Gilad Korngold, was between a group of relatives of hostages that was made in a meeting of the Israeli Parliament to ask for action on the kidnapped.
“The danger is increasing every day that passes,” Korngold said in an interview later. “Israel and pertinent countries in the region must sit at the table – without eating or sleeping – and ending this terrible situation.”
On the first anniversary of the attack, Mr. Shoham’s family was still waiting. His mother, Nitza Korngold, like other Israelis frustrated by the lack of government progress in a hostage release agreement, boycotted the official ceremony and participated in an alternative commemoration.
“My dear such, if you can see me or listen to me, we miss you so much,” he said. “We are doing everything to bring you home and all the hostages. We will not give up. “