Hundreds of people gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday to watch the televised handover of three hostages from Gaza, cheering, waving Israeli flags and shedding tears of joy — a big change from the tears of shock and anguish prompted by a similar release a week ago, when the hostages were clearly in poor physical condition.
“Three pieces have returned to my heart,” said Doron Zexer, a prominent advocate for the hostages. “The joy now is a full one.”
Speaking through tears, a woman who would identify herself only by her first name, Avishag, called it “indescribable” to watch as the three men — Sasha Trupanov, Sagui Dekel-Chen and Yair Horn — were turned over to the Red Cross in Gaza. It was her first time at Hostages Square, a public plaza in Tel Aviv where families of the captives and their supporters have assembled each week to watch the live broadcasts of the handovers.
Avishag said she had feared the moment the three men would appear on a large screen set up on one side of the plaza, worried that they would be as emaciated as three other hostages who were released last Saturday. Their condition set off shock waves across Israel, prompting comparisons to Holocaust survivors.
That fueled pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure the release of the remaining hostages as quickly as possible, and it contributed to an emotional week in Israel. Hamas initially threatened to delay handing over any more captives, nearly derailing a cease-fire agreement aimed at ending the war.
As it turned out, Saturday’s release, which was the sixth, was a marked change from the week before, both in the appearance of the hostages and the crowd’s reaction. “They at least look like they’re OK, which is comforting,” Avishag said.
