Meet Israeli mother-daughter duo freed by Hamas after 50 days

Meet Israeli mother-daughter duo freed by Hamas after 50 days

NEW DELHI: Two of the Israeli hostages released by Hamas were Sharon Avigdori and her 12-year-old daughter Noam Avigdori. The duo was abducted while visiting family in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, when Hamas unleashed the bloodiest attack on Israel.

Sharon and Noam were taken hostage along with ten members of their extended family. They also lost several members of their family on that day of the attack.

On that day, tragedy struck the Israeli family as several members lost their lives. The Jewish family had assembled at the residence of 67-year-old Shoshan Haran in Kibbutz Be’eri during the Sukkot holiday. Among those present were her husband Avshalom, daughter Adi, Adi’s husband Tal, and their two young children.

According to reports, Sharon Avigdori, a special needs psychologist, is Avshalom’s sister. She attended Haran’s home for the festival with her daughter, Noam.

Upon hearing the sirens on October 7, everyone rushed to their safe rooms. However, the Hamas militants were already at their doorsteps.

“We woke up early on that Saturday morning and heard there were missiles. We called them, we actually were able to reach Yuval’s mother Shoshan on the phone. She answered us whispering. We didn’t understand why she was whispering. She said they were all together in the panic room,” Annalee Milstein, who is married to Shoshan and Avshalom’s son Yuval, said, PEOPLE reported.

“It’s half past six in the morning. A few minutes later we went into the internal app of the kibbutz and we started seeing people sending live messages and we understood it’s not just a regular missile shooting,” Milstein added.

“We tried to call them [but] they didn’t answer us anymore and then we started texting them. We asked them what’s happening, who is there, if they are okay. They said they were all together in the panic room. They are very scared, they hear gunshots all over, they hear terrorists shouting. They [say they] are in deep trouble and they don’t know if they’ll survive it,” Milstein said.

The release of hostages held in Gaza as part of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas brought a sigh of relief to their families. Many believed they were dead after being taken captive following the October 7 attack on Israel’s southern territory.

The reunions and even the mere news of their return brought tears, and disbelief to relatives and friends, many of whom had lost hope.

Hamas since Friday, in exchange for 78 Palestinian prisoners, has released hostages in two batches held captive in embattled Gaza after a tense truce brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, halting a seven-week war that has seen incessant bombardment of the enclave.

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