Hostage release underway in Gaza

Eliya Cohen, aged 27 was abducted from the Nova Festival area in Re'im. Eliya an electronic and techno music lover was at the site together with his fiancee Ziv Aboud, her nephew Amit Ben Avida and his fiancee Karin Schwartzman. They hid in a shelter which turned into a death trap. Eliya was abducted and taken to Gaza, Ziv was wounded but escaped while Amit and Karin were killed. A video of his abduction showing him with other hostages as they were driven to Gaza surfaced months later. After that, first sign of life from Eliya was received only last week through hostages who were released. According to his mother, Sigi Cohen, he was held in a tunnel, chained, wounded in his legs, without food, suffering from abuse.

Omer Shem Tov, aged 22, was abducted from the Nova Music Festival. Terrorists drove him in his car to Gaza along with his friends Maya and Itay Regev. Maya and Itay were released during the first ceasefire in November 2023. Itay revealed that during their captivity he was giving Omer hope with the words "Od kitzat, od tipa", meaning "a bit longer, just a bit longer" which has since been made into a song by Miri Mesika and Dror Keren. His mother Shelly was very active demanding his release and a deal on the hostages. He suffers from celiac disease and asthma.

Tal Shoham, aged 40, was kidnapped in kibbutz Be'eri. The family had travelled from their home in Lower Galilee to visit Tal's mother-in-law Shoshan Haran for Simchat Torah. Tal was kidnapped along with his wife, Adi Shoham, his daughter, Yahel, 3 and son, Naveh, 8 as well as his mother-in-law, his wife's aunt Sharon Avigdori and her daughter Noam, 12. In November 23 the six family members were released. Tal remained a hostage ever since.

Omer Wenkert, aged 22, was at the Nova Festival with his friend Kim. At the time of the attack he managed to text his parents describing what has happening around him. At some point contact was lost and later in the day it became clear that Kim had been murdered. Omer's fate remained uknown until his family show a video of him lying in a truck handcuffed and being transferred to Gaza. Omer suffers from an intestinal illness, and he is expected to be released on humanitarian grounds.

Hisham al-Sayed, now 37, is a Bedouin who crossed the border into Gaza in 2015. His last sign of life was in 2022 when Hamas released a video of him in Gaza, connected to an oxygen mask. According to Human Rights Watch, before entering Gaza, al-Sayed was "diagnosed with schizophrenia and a personality disorder, among other conditions" and was repeatedly institutionalized. That did not stop Hamas from holding him for years as a hostage.

Avera Mengistu, aged 37, remains in Hamas captivity since 2014. He is said to be suffering from mental illness. He crossed into Gaza from Zikim beach was initially spotted by security cameras but disappeared before the IDF could reach him. He was abducted by a patrol of the terrorist organization and has been held hostage for 11 years. (ANI/TPS)