After 491 days in Hamas captivity, freed hostages Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami were reunited with their families in moments of both joy and sorrow on Saturday. Their release marked the fifth phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Following their release, the men were taken to an IDF facility near the Gaza border for brief reunions before being flown to hospitals in central Israel. The Health Ministry confirmed they suffered from severe malnutrition and significant weight loss.
Levy’s emotional reunion with his three-year-old son, Almog, was especially heart-wrenching. During a video call before their in-person meeting, Almog told his father, “Dad, it took you a long time to come back.” Levy was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival on October 7, 2023, while his wife, Eynav, was killed in the attack.
Ben Ami’s reunion was equally emotional. His wife Raz, who was also abducted but released in a previous deal, greeted him with, “I can’t believe it. You’re so handsome, I love you.” In a video call with his daughters, he joked about his weight loss, saying, “I left as an extra-large and came back as a medium.”
His daughters later released a statement: “We got our father back. Now we must not stop until the last hostage is returned.”
