An Israeli hostage among six released by Hamas today kissed two of his captors before being released after more than 500 days.
Omer Shem Tov was released alongside Eliya Cohen, 27, and Omer Wenkert, 23 on Saturday, appearing on stage flanked by armed Hamas fighters in Nuseirat, central Gaza.
It came well over a year after coordinated Hamas-led terrorist attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and around 250 were abducted and held in Gaza.
The three men were all taken hostage at the Nova music festival, in Israel‘s Negev Desert.
The attacks that day triggered Israel‘s invasion of Gaza, which killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and sparked a humanitarian crisis.
Extraordinary footage of today’s event showed Omer turning to two Hamas members onstage and planting a kiss on their foreheads.
He also beamed and blew kisses to the crowd before finally being returned to his family.
Speaking to Channel 12, Omer’s grandmother Sara said it wasn’t out of character for him to appear so jovial.
« That’s Omer. He gets on with everyone, » she said, adding: « Even Hamas… They love him even there. »
But his dad Malki Shem Tov claimed that his captors « compelled him to wave and to kiss [on the top of the head] that [masked] guard who was standing next to him ».
« He said they told him what to do, » he told Kan TV, as per The Times of Israel. « You can see in the footage that someone came up to him and told him what to do,” he claimed.
Malki Shem Tov also alleged his son “didn’t see daylight at all” during his months of captivity.
Earlier on Saturday, two other hostages Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 38, were released at a separate ceremony in Rafah, southern Gaza.
The sixth hostage, Hisham al-Sayed, was released in private and has been accompanied to a hospital in Israel by his family, as per BBC News.
The handovers were expected to be followed by the freeing of more than 600 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
But according to the Palestinian Information Center, which carries official statements by Hamas, this has been delayed.
The releases follow fears the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which began on January 19, could be shattered amid heightened tensions.
Earlier this week, Israel said Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by nations including the UK and the US, had returned the wrong body for Shiri Bibas, an Israeli mother of two abducted on October 7.
The remains that Hamas transferred with her young sons on Thursday were later determined to be those of an unidentified Palestinian woman.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as “a cruel and malicious violation” of the ceasefire agreement, while Hamas suggested it was a mistake.
On Friday, a second body was handed over, and the following day Bibas’ family said Israeli forensic authorities had confirmed that they were her remains.
The family said: “For 16 months we sought certainty, and now that it’s here, it brings no comfort, though we hope it marks the beginning of closure.”
The six hostages released Saturday are the final living hostages being returned to Israel as part of the first phase of a ceasefire deal ending today, BBC News reports. The terms of a second phase have yet to be agreed.
62 hostages are still being held by Hamas, around half of whom are thought to be alive, as per the outlet.
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