Watch: Emotional homecoming as four Israeli women reunite with kin after being released by Hamas

Four Israelis released by Hamas on Saturday had an emotional homecoming as the women soldiers, held captive for more than 15 months in Gaza, finally returned.

Footage released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) showed the families overcome with joy, cheers and applause at being back together.


"This is the moment. Welcome home Liri, Daniella, Karina and Naama," IDF said sharing the video on X. The returnees were seen in IDF uniforms, meeting their counterparts and making heart gestures at the camera.


The freed Israeli soldiers—Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, and Naama Levy, all aged 20, along with Liri Albag, 19—returned to a hospital on the outskirts of Tel Aviv for medical evaluations.

The freed Israeli hostages were transported by military helicopter to the Rabin Medical Centre, where Deputy Director Lena Feldman Koren confirmed that all four were in "stable" condition. However, she noted clear signs of the toll taken by their prolonged captivity in harsh conditions.

Albag and her parents were seen screaming with happiness and laughing while her father lifted her off the ground in a bear hug.


In another post, IDF shared the video of the families watching their members return in the truce deal.

"The moment when tears of sadness turned into tears of joy as the released hostages’ families saw their loved ones finally coming back home," it said.

Daniella Gilboa’s 15-year-old sister expressed the family’s unwavering hope throughout the ordeal, saying, "We remained optimistic and we did everything to see her back here, for her return...Wow, I imagined her totally different. It brought back all the emotions I've had this past year."


Meanwhile, celebrations also broke out in the occupied West Bank as Israel freed 200 Palestinian prisoners in exchange, marking the second hostage-prisoner swap under the current ceasefire deal.

In the first six-week phase of the hostage exchange, 33 hostages are set to be freed in staggered releases in return for approximately 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The process began with the release of three hostages on the first day of the truce, in exchange for 90 Palestinians.

During Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023, which marked the beginning of the war, militants took 251 hostages, of whom 87 remain in Gaza, including 34 confirmed dead by the Israeli military. The attack caused the deaths of 1,210 people.

In response, Israel's retaliatory offensive has resulted in the deaths of at least 47,283 people in Gaza, the majority of whom were civilians, based on figures from the health ministry in Gaza, which is run by Hamas and regarded as reliable by the United Nations.