The loved ones of children recently released by Hamas have begun sharing their stories, giving heartbreaking updates on the conditions the former hostages faced.
In a brief video update, the aunt of 4-year-old Israeli-American Abigail Edan urged outsiders to give the child privacy as she recovers in a hospital and grieves over the loss of her parents, who were massacred in front of her by Hamas on Oct. 7.
“She just landed in the hospital, and she’s been checked and taken care of,” Ella Mor said. “She has family and we’re taking care of her, so don’t worry.”
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Mor did not say how Edan is doing psychologically after the traumatic month-and-a-half, which included witnessing her parents’ murder, her own kidnapping, and being held in captivity for 50 days without a familiar face in sight. Photos of the tot from inside an Israeli hospital showed her smiling as she sat between her aunt and uncle.
Edan, a dual citizen of Israel and the United States, was the first American hostage to be freed by Hamas as part of its latest ceasefire with Israel, which was extended from four days—and expiring on Monday—to six total, with more hostages scheduled to be released.
“We hoped and prayed today would come,” Edan’s cousin, Noa Naftali, and her great-aunt, Liz Hirsh Naftali, said in a statement Sunday. “There are no words to express our relief and gratitude that Abigail is safe and coming home.”
Edan’s parents, Roy Edan, 43, and Smadar Edan, 38, were fatally shot inside their home in the Kfar Aza kibbutz, near the Gaza border. The family said previously that Roy Edan was holding Abigail in his arms when he was shot dead.
Abigail will now be reunited with her older siblings—who were not captured—and will live with them at their aunt, uncle, and grandparents’ house in Israel, Noa Naftali told CBS News last week.
Also released over the weekend was 54-year-old Keren Munder, who was returned to Israel along with her son, 9-year-old Ohad Munder-Zichri, and her mother, 78-year-old Ruth Munder.
Keren’s cousin told The New York Times that his loved ones were cut off from the world completely in captivity, and that they were fed irregularly.
“They ate a lot of rice and bread,” Merav Mor Raviv told the Times. He said his loved ones returned to Israel about 13 to 18 pounds lighter than when they were abducted.
On a call with reporters organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel, Adva Adar said that her grandmother, 85-year-old Yaffa Adar, had also lost weight in captivity. She added that Yaffa, who was recorded being driven away by Hamas on a golf cart during her abduction, had lost track of how many days she was in Gaza because she’d been a hostage so long.
Israeli women and children made up the bulk of the hostages released by Monday afternoon. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Monday that another 20 Israeli women and children will be released by Wednesday as part of the two-day extension of the truce between Hamas and Israel.
Among those already freed from captivity was Hila Rotem Shoshani, a 13-year-old girl who was returned to her loved ones on Saturday.
Shoshani’s uncle, Yair Rotem, told NBC News that she has so far disassociated from her time in captivity. He said his niece talks about the trauma she experienced as if it were a movie—something she witnessed, not lived through.
“She speaks about facts that happen like it happened to somebody else,” he said.
Shoshani’s mom was kidnapped alongside her in the Oct. 7 attack and remains in captivity. Rotem told The Times of Israel that Shoshani shared with loved ones that she was separated from her mom two days before her release—a possible breach of Israel’s agreement with Hamas for the ceasefire.
Despite her mother remaining a hostage, Rotem said Shoshani and her mom were both in “good condition,” as is 9-year-old Emily Hand, who was sleeping over at Shoshani’s the night before the group were kidnapped. Video captured the moment an overjoyed Shoshani and Hand were able to embrace their loved ones for the first time after their release.
Among the remaining hostages, eight—two women and six men—are U.S. citizens. There’s also a captive who holds a U.S. green card.
Kirby said Israel’s deal with Hamas is structured to have the truce extended an additional day for every 10 hostages released. As of Monday afternoon, Hamas has released a total of 58 hostages, including 40 Israeli citizens and 18 foreign nationals. Israel has released 78 Palestinian women and children who were being held in prison or in administrative detention.
