Israeli families react to release of first group of captives
Israeli media have identified the first seven captives who were freed as Matan Angrest, brothers Gali and Ziv Berman, Alon Ohel, Eitan Mor, Omri Miran, and Guy Gilboa-Dalal.
The group is now in Israeli territory and is set to reunite with their families at the Re’im military base in southern Israel.
Ohel’s parents told The Times of Israel that their son “looks amazing” and is “standing on his own two feet”, while Mor’s mother told Ynet News her son “looks great, although thin and pale”.
Freed hostage Evyatar David sees his friends for the first time, as they shout to him: “Evyatar, you’re a king!”
Some captives telephone families before their release: Reports
The Times of Israel and Ynet News are reporting that Hamas has allowed some of the Israeli captives who are yet to be freed in Gaza to contact their families before their release.
Among them was Matan Zangauker, who telephoned his mother, Einav.
“You’re coming home — you’re all coming home,” she told her son, according to The Times of Israel. “There’s no more war.”
Ynet also reported that the parents of Nimrod Cohen and the brothers, David and Ariel Cunio, also spoke to their sons by telephone via a Hamas connection.
All remaining surviving captives now in Red Cross custody: Reports
Reuters and Israel’s Ynet News are reporting that the 13 remaining alive captives have been transferred by Hamas to ICRC custody.
Release of captives timed to coincide with Trump’s arrival in Israel
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority has confirmed that the Red Cross has received the remaining 13 living Israeli captives, and they will soon be handed over to the custody of the Israeli military, which, of course, is still present in 53 percent of Gaza.
That means that we are in the process of concluding the release of all living Israeli captives, and that is all happening as US President Trump arrived in Israel.
These are important developments, and the choreography is not coincidental.
Remaining in Gaza are the bodies of 28 Israeli captives, and it is not clear how many of them will be released today. But the Israeli authorities, the American side, and the mediators knew well ahead that the possibility of all of them returning today is quite low, for logistical reasons because of the continued presence of Israeli forces on the ground in Gaza and, really, the utter devastation that the Israeli military has created in the territory.
Retrieving the bodies, knowing where they are, and locating them is a very difficult task, and it may need the intervention of outside experts.
