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Hamas launched three Israeli hostages more on Saturday as part of an exchange for Palestinian prisoners, in a highly theatrical installment in which men made speeches effectively at gunpoint.
The launch of hostages is the fifth of a tense series of exchanges that are part of a 42 -day fire agreement that entered into force last month stopping the fight between Israel and Hamas. Hamas agreed to release 33 of the remaining almost 100 hostages in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and a partial Israeli retreat.
Here is a closer look at the Israelis launched on Saturday:
OHAD BEN AM
Mr. Ben Ami, who was 54 years old when he was kidnapped by Kibbutz Be’eri in southern Israel, It was Kibbutz’s accountant And it is an avid cyclist. His wife, Raz Ben Ami, was also taken hostage, but was released in the first high -fire agreement in November 2023. Mr. Ben Ami is a dual Israeli and German citizen.
“The only important thing is that Ohad returns,” Raz Ben Ami told the New York Times in August, adding: “It is still difficult for me to imagine our life after this.”
She Ben Ami, one of the three daughters of the couple, was a vocal defender of a high fire agreement. She criticized the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak in Congress in July, saying that she should not travel abroad until there was an agreement to free the hostages. A video posted in Social networks in AugustHe showed Mrs. Ben Ami near the border with Gaza calling her father’s name with a microphone in her hand and saying that she missed him.
In December, on Mr. Ben Ami’s second birthday in captivity, his family marked the day with a bicycle ride And a ceremony, according to his brother, Kobi, who He told Israeli media that around 200 people joined them while roding along a bicycle path created to commemorate 11 cyclists killed on October 7 and the hostages, including Mr. Ben Ami. He said the family had not received any sign that he was alive since he was captured.
Or tax
Mr. Levy was 33 when he was taken hostage. His wife, Eynav Levy, died on October 7. His son, who was only two years old at that time, was with Mrs. Levy’s mother while her parents went to the Nova Music Festival, an event held a few miles from the border of Gaza. That was a key goal of the assault.
Mr. Levy He sent a text message to his mother During the attack, even of a shelter that was assaulted by the militants. The Israeli army then informed the family that Mrs. Levy’s body was found in the shelter and that Mr. Levy was arrested in Gaza.
The couple worked in technology and lived near Tel Aviv. Mr. Levy’s older brother, Michael Levy, spoke about the terrible situation of his younger brother in An event in California in MarchOne of the many trips he made worldwide to press for a hostage agreement. At that time, he said he had not received indications that his brother was dead, but was not very optimistic about an agreement.
Eli Sharabi
Mr. Sharabi was also kidnapped by Be’eri, and his wife and two daughters were killed in the attack.
His brother Yossi was also taken as a hostage of Gaza, where he was killed in An Israeli air attackThe Israeli army then told his family.
His brother, Sharon, said in December that the news of progress in a high -fire agreement had caused “new hope among the families of the hostages that they could see their loved ones again, and at the same time tension.”
“We lost four people,” he said. “We do not intend to fill a fifth coffin.”
