After more than two years, twenty released Israeli hostages were reunited with their loved ones on Monday. Many have thanked President Donald Trump and his administration for their work in orchestrating the long-awaited reunions.
Noa Argamani, who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists along with her partner Avinatan Or on October 7, 2023, expressed joy after being reunited with “the love of my life.”
“Two years have passed since the last moment I saw Avinatan, the love of my life. Two years since the moment terrorists kidnapped us, put me on a motorcycle and tore me away from Avinatan in front of the whole world,” Argamani said. “I was held by Hamas for 246 days, while Avinatan was held for 738 days. I returned in a heroic rescue operation and Avinatan returned in a deal. But we both, against all odds, came home and were reunited!”
ISRAELI HOSTAGES ARE REUNITED WITH FAMILIES IN EMOTIONAL MOMENTS
The families and loved ones of the hostages thanked President Donald Trump and his team for their efforts to bring everyone home. (IDF Spokespersons Unit; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“I cannot put into words the variety of emotions I felt when I saw him for the first time after so long. Each of us has faced death countless times, and yet, after a gap of two years, we are finally taking our first steps together again in the State of Israel,” she added.
In her post on X, Argamani thanked the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for fighting and risking their lives to rescue the hostages. She also thanked the US government, which she said “opened its doors to me and was always there to listen,” and shouted out White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Trump, whom she called “exceptional.”
Lishay Miran-Lavi also credited Trump and his team for reuniting her family. Her husband, Omri Miran, was captured on October 7, 2023 from the safe room in their home in the presence of her and their two daughters, Roni and Alma. At the time of Omri’s kidnapping, his daughter Alma was only six months old and knew his face only from hostage posters.
“Roni and Alma ran into their father’s arms and he heard them say ‘Daddy’ again. In that moment, the promise I made on October 7 was fulfilled, healing something words cannot describe,” Miran-Lavi wrote on X.
People gather in Hostages Square during a rally after Hamas accepted a peace deal to end the two-year war and return the hostages. (Dana Reany/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
COUPLE DIVORCED, KIDNAPPED DURING OCTOBER 7 HAMAS ATTACK FINALLY REUNITED AFTER HOSTAGE BEDDING
‘Thanks to the chairman [Donald Trump] and the entire Trump Administration for their continued efforts to bring Omri and the other hostages home. From the beginning, you made our cause your mission, stood by the families’ side and never gave up,” Miran-Lavi wrote. [Steve Witkoff]the President’s Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, and to [Jared Kushner]thank you for your dedication, compassion and perseverance through every phase of this journey.”
Miran-Lavi also thanked Secretary of State Marco Rubio for his “conviction and diplomacy, for ensuring that the hostages and their families would never disappear from the agenda and for leading with strength and humanity.”
Additional, Miran-Lavi recognized it the efforts of senior members of the administration who were “available to us around the clock” and ensured that the doors of the White House were open “at all times” to the hostages’ families.
“Their determination and dedication brought us to this long-awaited moment.”
People wave Israeli and American flags in Hostages Square during a rally in support of hostages and missing families following the peace deal between Israel and Hamas. (Dana Reany/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
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The loved ones of several hostages also thanked Trump and his administration during a news conference Tuesday, including Viki Cohen, mother of Nimrod Cohen; Anat Angrest, mother of Matan Angrest; Iair Horn, a captivity survivor and brother of Eitan Horn; and Dani Miran, father of Omri Miran.
At another press conference at another medical center in Israel, Macabit Mayer – Gali and Ziv Berman’s aunt – their brother, Liran Berman, and Miri Ben Ami, the mother of Yosef Chaim Ohana, all thanked Trump.
On Monday, hours after the hostages were released, Trump addressed the Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset.
“This week, against all odds, we did the impossible and brought our hostages home,” Trump said.
During his presidential campaign last year, Trump promised to bring the hostages home and end the war. During the first ten months of his presidency, Israel saw multiple rounds of hostage releases, culminating in the release of the last twenty surviving hostages on Monday.
