An Israeli mother who once offered herself as a hostage to Hamas just for the chance to hold her two daughters has finally been reunited with them after her release, an emotional new video shows.
Maayan Zin’s nightmare ended Sunday when she tearfully hugged her daughter Dafna Elyakim, 15, and Ela Elyakim, 8, for the first time in 51 days after the girl was released by the terrorist group as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel. .
A heartwarming video captures the moment Zin rushes to her two daughters, hugging them and crying after weeks of pleading for their safe return.
“My precious daughters were returned to me yesterday, a moment etched in my memory,” wrote Zin on X. “Thank you for making it happen.”
Dafna and Ela were among 17 people released by Hamas on Sunday in exchange for 39 Palestinian prisoners.
The two girls were abducted from their father’s home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, with the attack on their home broadcast on Facebook Live, according to the Times of Israel.
Maayan Zin hugs her two daughters, Dafna Elyakim, 15, and 8-year-old Ela Elyakim after they were released by Hamas on Sunday. X/Maayan Zin The family hugs for the first time in 51 days. X/Maayan Zin
Facebook video shows their father, Noam Elyakim, bleeding from a gunshot wound to his leg as Dafna cries next to him. Noam’s body, along with the bodies of his girlfriend Dikla Arava and their son Tomer, were later found near the Gaza border.
Since his daughter’s abduction, Zin has been one of the most vocal supporters calling on Hamas to release the children held hostage in Gaza.
The heartbroken mother even made several pleas with Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden to find a way to reunite her family, even if it meant sending her to the Palestinian territories as a hostage.
Ela ran as soon as she saw her mother waiting for her. X/Maayan Zin The 8-year-old cried with her mother during their reunion. X/Maayan Zin
“If you can’t take my girls home now, I’m begging you, I’m begging you, take me to them now,” pleaded Zin in an emotional video earlier this month.
“Put me in Gaza. I will be hostage 243. If I can hold them and tell them everything will be fine. Hug them and tell them that Mom is here — no matter what, Mom is here,” she said.
As of Sunday, Hamas had released 58 hostages, including 40 Israelis and 18 foreigners.
The two sides have since agreed to extend their ceasefire by two days, until Wednesday, Qatari mediators said on Monday – hours before the existing temporary peace was due to end.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
