Hamas released three more Israeli hostages on Saturday as part of an exchange for Palestinian prisoners, in an extremely theatrical tradition in which men were made to give effective weapon speeches.
Homer’s liberation is Thursday in a tense series of exchanges that are part of a 42 -day cease agreement that came into force last month the cessation of the matches between Israel and Hamas. Hamas agreed to gradually release 33 of the nearly 100 remaining hostages in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and partial withdrawal of Israel.
Here’s a closer look at the Israelis released on Saturday:
Oh ben ami
Mr Ben Ami, who was 54 years old when he was abducted by Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel, was Kibbutz’s accountant and is a greedy cyclist. His wife, Raz Ben Ami, was also hostage, but was released to the first ceasefire agreement in November 2023. Mr Ben Ami is a double Israeli and German citizen.
“The only important thing is for Ohad to come back,” Raz Ben Ami told the New York Times in August, adding: “It’s still difficult for me to imagine our lives after that.”
Ella Ben Ami, one of the couple’s three daughters, was a vocal lawyer for a ceasefire agreement. He was critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak in Congress in July, saying he should not travel abroad until there was an agreement on the release of hostages. A video published in the social media in August showed that Mrs Ben Ami near the border with Gaza by calling her father’s name with a microphone in her hand and saying she lost her.
In December, for Mr Ben Ami’s second birthday in captivity, his family marked the day with a bike ride and a ceremony, according to his brother, Kobi, who told Israeli media that about 200 people They joined as they drove along a bicycle route created to honor 11 cyclists killed on October 7 and hostages, including Mr Ben Ami. He said that the family had not received any sign that he had been alive since he was captured.
Or levy
Mr Levy was 33 years old when he was taken hostage. His wife, Eynav Levy, died on October 7th. Their son, who was only two at the moment, was with Mrs Levy’s mother, while his parents went to the Nova Music Festival, an event that took place just a few miles from the Gaza border this was the main goal of the attack .
Mr Levy wrote his mother during the attack, including a shelter that fell from the fighters. The Israeli army later informed the family that Mrs Levy’s body was in the shelter and that Mr Levy was held in Gaza.
The couple worked in technology and lived near Tel Aviv. Mr Levy’s older brother, Michael Levy, talked about the destructive situation of his younger brother at an event in California in March, one of the many trips he made around the world to push for a hostage agreement. At that time, he said that he had not received any evidence that his brother was dead, but he was not very optimistic about an agreement.
Eli sharabi
Mr Sharabi was also abducted by Be’eri and his wife and their two daughters were killed in the attack.
Yossi’s brother was also considered a hostage in Gaza, where he was killed in an Israeli airline, the Israeli army later told his family.
His brother, Sharon, said in December that the news of progress in a ceasefire agreement caused “new hope among hostage families who could see their loved ones again-and at the same time, tension”.
“We have lost four people,” he said. “We do not intend to fill a fifth coffin.”
