Preparations underway in Gaza for release of Israeli hostages
Jerusalem: In return for more than 600 Palestinian terrorists detained in Israeli jails, negotiations are taking place in Gaza for the release of six Israeli captives. In the first part of the agreement with Hamas, the six captives are the last to be released alive.
The 27-year-old Eliya Cohen was kidnapped from the Re’im Nova Festival location. Along with his fiancée Ziv Aboud, her nephew Amit Ben Avida, and his fiancée Karin Schwartzman, Eliya, who enjoys electronic and techno music, was present at the location. They took refuge in a shelter that ended up being a death trap. Amit and Karin were slain, Ziv was injured but managed to flee, and Eliya was kidnapped and sent to Gaza.
Months later, a video of his kidnapping that showed him being transported to Gaza with other prisoners emerged. Only last week, after the captives were freed, did the first indication of life from Eliya arrive. He was confined in a tunnel, chained, with injuries to his legs, malnourished, and subjected to maltreatment, according to his mother, Sigi Cohen.
22-year-old Omer Shem Tov was kidnapped at the Nova Music Festival. He and his buddies Maya and Itay Regev were driven to Gaza by terrorists in their vehicle. In November 2023, during the first truce, Maya and Itay were freed. The phrase “Od kitzat, od tipa” (meaning “a bit longer, just a bit longer”), which Miri Mesika and Dror Keren have later turned into a song, was Itay’s way of giving Omer hope while they were in captivity. Shelly, his mother, was quite vocal in her demands for his release and a settlement with the hostages. He has both asthma and celiac disease.
40-year-old Tal Shoham was abducted in Kibbutz Be’eri. For Simchat Torah, the family had traveled from their Lower Galilee home to see Tal’s mother-in-law, Shoshan Haran. Tal, his wife Adi Shoham, his three-year-old daughter Yahel, his eight-year-old son Naveh, his mother-in-law, his wife’s aunt Sharon Avigdori, and her twelve-year-old daughter Noam were all abducted. The six family members were freed on November 23. Since then, Tal has been a captive.
22-year-old Omer Wenkert and his companion Kim were at the Nova Festival. He was able to contact his parents about what was going on around him at the time of the assault. Contact eventually stopped, and it was discovered later that Kim had been killed. Omer’s fate was unknown until his relatives showed a video of him being taken to Gaza while shackled and laying on a vehicle. Due to his intestinal ailment, Omer is anticipated to be freed for humanitarian reasons.
In 2015, 37-year-old Bedouin Hisham al-Sayed crossed the border into Gaza. In 2022, Hamas published a video of him using an oxygen mask in Gaza, which was his last indication of life. Human Rights Watch claims that al-Sayed was “diagnosed with schizophrenia and a personality disorder, among other conditions” before his arrival in Gaza and was hospitalized on many occasions. Despite this, Hamas continued to keep him as a captive for years.
The 37-year-old Avera Mengistu has been held captive by Hamas since 2014. It is stated that he has a mental ailment. Security cameras first saw him crossing into Gaza from Zikim Beach, but he vanished before the IDF could apprehend him. He has been kept captive for 11 years after being kidnapped by a terrorist patrol.
