- Danielle Aloni and her five-year-old daughter Emilia were welcomed home
This is the moment crowds of Israelis lined the street and waved flags to welcome home a mother and daughter who had been taken hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
Danielle Aloni and her five-year-old daughter Emilia were welcomed home by crowds of people after being released after being held hostage for 49 days.
People along the street waved Israeli flags and cheered as a sound system played the song “I’m Coming Home” as they approached.
The pair were released on Friday in the first group of hostages released as part of a temporary ceasefire.
Danielle Aloni and her five-year-old daughter Emilia were welcomed home by crowds after being released after being held hostage for 49 days
The pair were released on Friday in the first group of hostages released as part of a temporary ceasefire
The mother and daughter were visiting Ms Aloni’s sister and her family at Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 when they were kidnapped
Moran Aloni, brother of Danielle Aloni, holds a poster in Yavne, Israel on November 3
The mother and daughter were visiting Ms Aloni’s sister and her family at Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 when they were abducted.
Their relatives – Sharon Aloni Cunio, 33, and her husband David Cunio, 34, and their three-year-old twin daughters, Yuli and Emma – are still being held hostage in Gaza.
Relatives of Israeli hostages have previously described how their relatives ate rice and pita and slept on plastic chairs after being kidnapped by Hamas.
Keren Munder, her son and her grandmother were among those released after they were abducted from their relatives’ home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Ms. Munder told her cousin that the hostages ate mostly rice and pita and slept on rows of plastic chairs, like those in waiting rooms.
She also said that they knocked on the door when they needed to go to the toilet, but that sometimes they had to wait an hour and a half before they could go.
People take part in a show of solidarity with the hostages held in the Gaza Strip
This is the emotional moment when a father is reunited with his wife and two young daughters
A pair of IDF soldiers comfort Raz, four, and Aviv, two, after their release
Emily was one of thirteen Israeli citizens rescued from the terrorist group Hamas
Merav Raviv, Keren’s cousin, said her aunt Ruthie and Keren’s son Ohad were also taken, but their elderly uncle Avraham was taken separately.
Nine-year-old Emily Hand was finally reunited with her father on Saturday after 50 days as a Hamas hostage.
The girl, who was initially feared to have been killed by Hamas gunmen during their invasion of Israel, was filmed walking into her father’s arms.
Emily was snatched in her pajamas on October 7, taking about 240 prisoners back to Gaza. She celebrated her ninth birthday while in captivity.
On Saturday evening, she joined 20 other hostages released by Hamas during a four-day lull in the conflict. Her release came after a delay of several hours when Hamas accused Israel of not adhering to the terms of the deal.
Emily’s arrest made headlines around the world after her emotional father, Thomas Hand, 63, initially said he hoped she had been killed in the October 7 invasion, rather than being in the hands of Hamas.
Since she was revealed to be alive, Mr Hand has campaigned tirelessly for her freedom.
Mr Hand later revealed she was ‘broken’ after her ordeal, but still whole. He also said he had been too scared to hug her tightly, but promised to throw her the “biggest birthday party ever.”
The release of hostages came as part of a temporary ceasefire agreement between Qatar and the United States between Hamas and Israel.
