Now free, 85-year-old must rebuild her life from scratch
Yaffa Adar, 85, knew from the smoke and destruction that much of kibbutz Nir Oz was gone when she was taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, her granddaughter Adva Adar said today.
The woman who her granddaughter described as tough, realized during her days in captivity that there would be no returning to her life as it was.
“She needs to start over and she mentioned … that for an 85 year old woman, usually you have your house that you raised your kids, you have your memories, your photo albums, your clothes,” Adva Adar said. “And she has nothing and in her old age she has to start over.”
Yaffa Adar learned after being released on Friday that family members she thought had perished are still alive.
“When she came, she talked to them over the phone so at least she knows that they are alive and it does help,” Adva Adar said. “A house is something that we will help her build and find a place where she will feel comfortable.”
Four Thai nationals are healthy after their release, PM says
Four Thai nationals — Natthaphon Onkaew, Khomkrit Chombua, Anucha Angkaew and Manee Jirachat — were among the 13 hostages released by Hamas yesterday.
They were all healthy and did not need urgent medical attention, according to a post on X by the prime minister of Thailand. He added that they were all able to speak normally and were looking forward to taking showers and contacting relatives.
Ten Thai nationals were also freed on Friday, alongside 13 Israelis. The release of the Thai nationals was part of a separate deal with Hamas brokered by Turkey.
One Palestinian killed, another injured in Gaza, aid group says
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said their ambulance rew dealth with two cases today in central Gaza: one Palestinian was killed and another was injured, despite the current cease-fire entering its third day.
The group described the people killed and injured as “two farmers” who were east of the Al-Maghazi refugee camp.
Hostages say they were given mostly bread and rice in captivity
Keren Munder, a hostage released Friday along with her son, Ohad, and mother, Ruthy, told a relative that they were given bread and rice while being held by Hamas, but not regularly.
“Keren and her mom, Ruthy, lost each on of them between 6 to 8 kilos and they are not that tall. They ate a lot of rice and bread,” Merav Raviv, a family member, said today.
She added that they were sleeping on benches, or chairs combined to form a bench, in a kind of reception area.
“When they wanted to go to the bathroom, they had to knock on the door and sometimes they were awaiting it to be opened and sometimes they were waiting one and a half hours or two hours to go to the bathroom,” she said.
Upon returning, the Munders also learned news of their relatives: Ruthy’s husband and Ohad’s grandfather, Avraham, is still being held hostage by Hamas. Raviv said the Munders thought he’d been killed on Oct. 7. They also learned that Ruthy’s son was killed by Hamas in the attacks.
61 trucks delivered to northern Gaza; additional 200 expected to enter today
The largest number of aid trucks since the start of the war entered northern Gaza today, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. The trucks were loaded with food, water, medical supplies and fuel, which had been heavily restricted to very limited quantities prior to this truce.
In addition, 11 ambulances, 3 buses and a flatbed truck were delivered to assist with evacuations from Al Shifa hospital. In the days ahead of the truce, Al-Shifa had come under intense strain amid Israel’s arial and ground assault.
Another 200 aid trucks are expected to enter Gaza today. The longer the pause lasts, the more aid humanitarian agencies will be able to send aid across Gaza, OCHA said.
Clashes in the West Bank; IDF says it killed five people
The Israel Defense Forces said today it killed five people in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and arrested another 21 people.
In a statement on Telegram, the IDF said their troops exchanged fire with militants, and found ammunition, weapons and military equipment. The operation was part of sweeping campaign by Israeli security services since Oct. 7, that has seen some 2000 people arrested in the West Bank.
Earlier, the Gaza health ministry said that two people south of Jenin were shot by Israeli forces. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said last night on X its ambulance had been targeted and the Israeli forces were preventing their teams from reaching injured people.
NBC News is not able independently verify these claims.
Irish Prime Minster welcomes release of Israeli-Irish hostage
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar welcomed the release of a nine-year-old Israeli-Irish girl yesterday who was held hostage by Hamas since it launched the Oct. 7 attacks.
“This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family,” he said on X.
“An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered,” he said.
Israel reviewing latest list of hostages slated for release
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement today that it was reviewing the list of hostages slated for release by Hamas militants.
The information was conveyed to the hostages’ families, the statement said.
The scheduled release would be the third since Israel and Hamas reached a deal that would see the militants release at least 50 hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinians being freed from Israeli jails.
Both hostages and Palestinian prisoners were released during the first two days of a four-day cease-fire, with more expected should the truce continue to hold.
Biden administration is ‘disappointed’ no Americans were released in today’s hostage exchange
The Biden administration is “disappointed” no Americans have been released as a part of the hostage exchange between Israel and Hamas, but officials remain “hopeful” that at least three Americans with duel Israeli citizenship will be freed as part of the overall deal for the release of 50 hostages, two senior administration officials told NBC News.
“We are disappointed that we haven’t seen the Americans on a list yet, but we are hopeful for the next couple of days,” one official said, adding “the U.S. is hopeful that we can keep the pause in place and the exchange in place, because we want all of the hostages out.”
One official said there is “common concern” that Hamas is holding the three Americans until the fourth day of the exchange to encourage the U.S. to put pressure on Israel for an extended pause in fighting, but the sources could not point to any official assessment or intelligence confirming that to be the case.
Previous reports from administration officials have said 10 Americans were missing.
After the rush of release, hostages and their families can be torn by competing emotions
TEL AVIV — Grief and joy.
These are just two of the complex and sometimes opposing emotions Hamas hostages and their families will experience as they emerge from 50 days in captivity in the Gaza Strip, one expert says.
Joy was the unmistakable emotion captured in the first images of freed hostages as they reunited with family this weekend. Twenty-four hostages were released Friday and another 17 were released Saturday as part of a four-day cease-fire deal.
In one, Ohad Munder-Zichri, who had his ninth birthday as a hostage in Gaza, can be seen running into his father’s arms in a video posted to Facebook.
In another, Doron Katz Asher and her young daughters Aviv, 2, and Raz, 4, can be seen in their first moments with father and husband Yoni Asher.
He hugs the three tightly.