Hamas released the names of the final six living hostages set to be released from Gaza on Saturday under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
The list includes Israeli citizens Omer Shem Tov, 22, Omer Wenkert, 23, Eliya Cohen, 27, and Tal Shoham, 30, all of whom were captured by terrorists on October 7 and have been in captivity for 505 days. Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, and Avraham (Avera) Mengisto, 39, who have both been hostages in Gaza for about a decade, will also be released.
Shem Tov was kidnapped from the Nova Festival along with his siblings Itay and Maya Regev, who were released as part of the November 2023 hostage deal. His family was able to track his location through his phone as he was being forcibly driven to Gaza. According to his mother, Shem Tov has been observing the Jewish Sabbath in captivity.
“I never stopped believing that the moment would come and you would return to us, and it will happen so soon,” Maya wrote on her Instagram upon news her brother was being released.
Wenkert, who was also taken from the Nova Festival, suffers from an autoimmune disease that requires medication. One of his last messages to his parents on October 7 was “I’m dying from fear.” Wenkert was hiding in a shelter where terrorists threw eight grenades. Hamas later released a photo of Wenkert handcuffed in his underwear.
Cohen was at the Nova Festival with his fiancée, Ziv Abud, her nephew, Amit, and Amit’s girlfriend, Karin. Ziv survived the attack in a shelter by hiding under Amit and Karin’s bodies. Cohen planned to propose to Ziv and has already purchased a ring, YNet reported. According to recently-released hostages, Cohen is unaware Ziv is still alive.
Shoham, who holds Israeli, Austrian, and Italian citizenship, was in kibbutz Be’eri during the October 7 attack. He was kidnapped alongside his wife Adi, their children Nave, 8, and Yahel, 3, his mother-in-law Dr. Shoshan Haran, Adi’s aunt, Sharon Avigdori, and her daughter Noam, 12, all of whom were released during the November 2023 hostage deal. Three other family members were murdered.
Al-Sayed, an Arab-Israeli who suffers from severe mental health issues, wandered into Gaza on April 20, 2015, where he was kidnapped by Hamas. According to his family and Israeli officials, he had crossed the border multiple times before.
“In Islam, people with mental illnesses are not held accountable under religious law. Even God does not judge them,” his father Shaabam said, according to YNet.
Mengistu, who was born in Ethiopia, crossed into Gaza on September 7, 2014, near Zikim Beach when he was taken hostage. For nine years, his family was left in the dark about his condition until Hamas released a video of him in January 2023.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum celebrated the return of the group, stating there is “profound relief.”
“As we embrace our returning family members, we must emphasize – Many hostages remain in captivity, and time is of the essence,” the forum wrote. “We call upon President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu to do everything in their power to advance the second phase of negotiations immediately. Every day matters for those still held captive.”
The forum contrasted that feeling to the sad news that the remains of four hostages will be returned to Israel on Thursday. According to Hamas, the bodies of their two youngest hostages, Ariel and Kfir Bibas — who were four years old and nine months old at the time of their abduction — will be returned.
So far, 19 of 33 hostages have been released during the first phase of the ceasefire, along with five Thai hostages who were released in a separate deal. Seventy-three hostages remain in captivity, 73 of whom were abducted on October 7. The fate of those not slated for the first phase will be negotiated in later phases.
Negotiations for phase two of the ceasefire agreement are expected to begin in the coming days.
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