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Edited by: TJVNews.com
On Tuesday night, 10 Israeli hostages and two Thai nationals were released from captivity by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, according to a report on the World Israel News web site.
After an initial medical examination, they were transferred by Israeli Air Force helicopters to hospitals where they were reunited with their families and loved ones.
The WIN report indicated that one of the first photographs of the released hostages was of Mia Lemberg, a 17-year-old from Jerusalem, who was seen holding a dog that disappeared during the October 7th massacre.
In addition to Mia Lemberg, the names of the other hostages released Tuesday include Mia’s mother Gabriela Leimberg, 59, and her aunt Clara Marman, 64; Ditza Heiman, 84; Tami Metzger, 78; Ofelia Roitman, 77, and Ada Sagi, 75; Noralin Babadilla Agojo, 60, and Rimon Kirsht Buchshtav, 36, and Merav Tal, 53, a day after the children of her partner were released, as was indicated in the WIN report.
The husbands of Tami, Rimon, and Merav are still being held in Gaza, and Noralin’s spouse was killed during the Hamas massacre.
Ditza Heiman, 84 was a founder of Kibbutz Nir Oz and a social worker. WIN reported that she was kidnapped from her home hiding from terrorists.
Tammy Metzger, 78 was taken from her home in Nir Oz along with her husband Yoram, 80, who is still in Gaza.
Noralin (Natalie) Ajojo, 60, from Yehud, attended a 70th anniversary celebration of Kibbutz Nirim. As was reported by World Israel News, the next day her partner Gideon Babani was murdered and Noralin was kidnapped and spirited off to Gaza.
Ada Sagi 75, fought back and sustained injuries as the terrorist set fire to her secure room in her home in Nir Oz, the WIN report said. She is a mother of three, a grandmother of six, and was recently widowed.
Merav Tal, 53,has been reunited with other released hostages, 16-year-old Or Yaakov and his brother Yagil, 12. The WIN report said that she is the partner of their father, Yair who is still in captivity in Gaza.
Merav Tal’s family saw a recording reporting fearfully that terrorists were invading and her pleading with them not to capture her.
Rimon Kirsht Buchshtav, 36, appeared in a Hamas psychological terror video, as was noted in the WIN report. She was captured along with her husband Yagev Buchshtav, who is still a hostage in Gaza.
Ophelia Roitman, 77, made aliyah from Argentina and was a grade school teacher in Nir Oz. WIN reported that prior to her capture by the Hamas terrorists, she could be heard on a video saying that terrorists were in her house.
Clara Marman, 64, hosted her sister Gabriela Leimberg, 59, and her daughter Mia, 17 during the Simchat Torah holidays in Kibbutz Nir Yitzchak. WIN reported that a birthday celebration was held the night before the terrorists invaded the kibbutz.
Mia is seen in many photographs holding her dog, which reappeared after having gone missing from the kibbutz on the day of the Hamas massacre.
Clara Marman’s brother Fernando Marman, 60, and Clara’s partner, Louis Har, 70, are still in captivity in Gaza, the WIN report indicated.
In a related development, Thomas Hand, the father of freed hostage, Emily Hand, who turned 9 years of age during her captivity, told CNN that his daughter was thin and pale and admitted she speaks only in whispers after her horrific ordeal, as was reported by WIN.
Emily Hand was spending the night in Be’eri with her friend Hila (13) when Hamas terrorists broke into the house and kidnapped the two girls along with Hila’s mother, Raaya.
As was stated in the WIN report, while in captivity, Raaya and the two girls were kept together, and Raaya cared for them both until they were released without her, another instance of Hamas’ cruelty.
Thomas Hand, a native of Ireland and a widower since Emily lost her mother to cancer at the age of two, told CNN that when Emily was presumed dead he said, “‘Yes!’ I went, ‘Yes!’ and smiled because that is the best news of the possibilities that I knew … So death was a blessing, an absolute blessing.”
However, a month later, the army told him that it was “highly probable” that Emily was still alive, and since then, her father advocated passionately for her release, according to the WIN report.
The description of the barbaric torture during the Hamas invasion of Be’eri had presumably caused Thomas Hand to believe that the same atrocities would continue in captivity, henceforth, his reaction to hearing the initial false report that his daughter had been killed, WIN reported.
However, Emily reported that she was never hit by her captors. Her father reported that she has lost weight, has sunken cheeks, and speaks only in a whisper.
Moreover, the Israel Defense Forces released the names of three IDF soldiers who were captured on October 7th, died in captivity, and whose bodies are still being held by Hamas, according to the WIN report.
The three victims are Sgt. Tomer Yaakov Achims, 20 years old, Sergeant Kirill Brodsky, 19 years old, and Sergeant Shaked Dahan, also 19 years old, the WIN report said. The announcement of their deaths was made after intelligence information was gathered and following consultation with a military rabbi.
The late Sergeant Tomer Yaakov Achims, a liaison to the brigade commander, was from the town of Lehavim.
As was reported by World Israel News, upon learning of his death at the hands of Hamas terrorists, the community of Lehavim delivered a statement, “The Lehavim community bows its head upon learning of the death of First Sergeant Tomer Yaakov Achims, son of Moshe and Anat. After many days of worry and anticipation, our hearts go out to the grieving family.”
The funeral was held on Wednesday in the military burial site at Lehavim cemetery.
Eli Barda, Mayor of Migdal Ha’emek, paid tribute to the late Shaked Dahan: “The Migdal Ha’emek family is in pain and will mourn together with the Dahan family. We send them a comforting and supportive hug.”
Kirill Brodsky’s family, who was on a vacation in Spain on October 7th, hurriedly returned to Israel. When they heard Kirill had been captured, they were hoping for the best.
His sister Alina described the ordeal “For almost two months we tried to hope and expect that everything is fine. We were at the headquarters of the abductees,” according to the WIN report.
She continued, “We were hoping, but today at nine in the morning the city officer came to inform us what happened – and that they set a funeral date. It was a shock for all of us.”
When brother and sister Noam Or (17) and Alma Or (13) were released from captivity in Gaza on Saturday night, relief was mixed with sadness when they discovered that their mother Yonat was killed in the Hamas attack on Be’eri 50 days earlier.
The siblings’ uncle, Ahal Besorai, spoke to CNN. “My sister, their mom, was murdered on October 7. The children did not know that,” WIN reported.
He continued, “We thought they were together when they were kidnapped, but they were separated from the outset.”
Of the 1,200 Be’eri residents, 120 were killed and many others were taken as hostages in Gaza, as was reported by WIN.
Stories of Hamas brutality towards their Israeli hostages are slowly coming out as the freed captives have revealed to their relatives concerning their nightmarish experiences in captivity.
The aunt of 12-year-old Eitan Yahalomi, who was freed Monday night together with eight other children and two mothers, told French television that her nephew was forced to the heinous Hamas atrocities that took place on October 7, when they abducted him and over 240 others from the Gaza envelope during their surprise attack in which they massacred 1,200 people, the WIN report said.
“The Hamas terrorists forced him to watch films of the horrors, the kind that no one wants to see,” Devorah Cohen told BFMTV.
The terrorists posted some of their brutal acts online, as was reported by WIN, and the IDF collected video evidence from the internet, captured GoPros the terrorists wore, and security cameras in the communities they invaded, of such crimes as burning entire families alive and beheading infants.
The clips were put together into a 47-minute video that Israel has screened before a select group of journalists and legislators in several countries, including the U.S. and Great Britain, WIN reported. The graphic and disturbing video shook them to the core.
In addition, she said that Yahalomi told her that “Every time one of the children started to cry, they would point a weapon at him to shut him up.”
“Maybe I’m naïve,” she said, as was noted in the WIN report. “I really wanted to hope that he was getting treated humanely, but apparently that wasn’t the case. They are monsters.”
On the political front, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday, during the fifth day of a ceasefire between Israeli troops and Hamas terrorists that was mediated by Qatar, the United States urged Israel to better protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza if it follows through on its promise to resume the war.
The AP also reported that the Biden administration told Israel it must avoid “significant further displacement” of and mass casualties among Palestinian civilians if it resumes its offensive, and that it must operate with more precision in southern Gaza than it has in the north, according to U.S. officials. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.
The AP report also indicated that in addition to the Israeli hostages that were released by Hamas and the two Thai nationals, Israel released 30 Palestinian prisoners. The truce is due to end after one more exchange that is scheduled for Wednesday night.
The latest swap brought to 180 the number of Palestinian women and teenagers freed from Israeli prisons. The AP report indicated that most have been teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces. Several released women were convicted by Israeli military courts of attempting to carry out deadly attacks, the report added. The prisoners are widely seen by Palestinians as heroes resisting the purported occupation.
CIA director William Burns and David Barnea, who heads Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, were in Qatar to discuss extending the ceasefire and releasing more hostages, a diplomat told the AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. Moreover, the report indicated that Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to visit the region this week.
Hamas and other terrorist organizations still hold about 160 hostages out of 240 that were seized in their October 7th invasion into southern Israel that ignited the war, the AP reported. Israel has said it is willing to extend the ceasefire by one day for every 10 additional hostages that Hamas releases. Hamas, however, is expected to make much higher demands for the release of captive Israeli soldiers.
Also on Tuesday, Israel National News reported that the Otzma Yehudit party in the ruling Likud coalition in the Knesset has threatened to take measures to dissolve the government, if Israel does not continue fighting with all its might against Hamas in Gaza, after the implementation of the outlines for the return of the captives.
Sources in the party have emphasized that if another deal is brought to the government that will result in the cessation of the war, all six Otzma Yehudit Knesset members, led by Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, will leave the coalition, INN reported.
“The ultimate goal of the war is the complete elimination of Hamas. Any deal that entails keeping Hamas alive will lead to more disasters like the Black Sabbath disaster on October 7th, and such a deal means a victory for Hamas in this war,” the sources claimed, according to the INN report.
They added that, “We must not agree to any such deal – and, in any case, Otzma Yehudit will not be part of government that will allow Hamas to continue to exist.”
Earlier, Minister Itamar Ben Gvir tweeted: “Stopping the war = dissolving the government.”
(Sources: WorldIsraelNews.com, IsraelNationalNews.com and AP.com) –
Additional reporting by: Fern Sidman
