85-year-old Israeli Holocaust survivor taken hostage by Hamas reunited with her family
Hatem Ali/AP
- An 85-year-old Holocaust survivor kidnapped by Hamas has been released.
- Yaffa Adar reunited with her family in Tel Aviv after seven weeks in captivity.
- Adar and the other hostages that have been released are in good health, per the IDF.
Yaffa Adar, an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor, was one of the first 13 hostages released from Gaza after 49 days in Hamas's captivity, i24NEWS reports.
The great-grandmother was kidnapped by Hamas from Kibbutz Nahal Oz on a golf cart on October 7 and has now been reunited with her family at Wolfson Hospital in Holon.
Her grandson Tamir Adar, 38, remains in captivity.
Yaffa Adar is a mother of three, grandmother of eight, and great-grandmother of seven.
Yaffa Adar's calm demeanor during the kidnapping was captured in a video clip that went viral.
Upon abduction, her granddaughter Adva Adar told The Times of Israel: "She was really the glue of our family. She loved her life. She liked good food, and she liked good wine. She was very young-minded."
The family expressed gratitude for her release while advocating for the return of all hostages still held by Hamas.
The family reunion at Wolfson Hospital in Holon, near Tel Aviv, followed the four-day cease-fire brokered between Israel and Hamas.
"We were happy and very excited to see grandma. Her resilience inspires. We ask everyone to remember, we can't see the sun yet because there are many more people still out there," said Adar's grandchildren, Adva, Alon and Orian, per i24NEWS.
85-year-old Yaffa Adar reunited with her family after being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for 49 days pic.twitter.com/qHVytqEzM1
— Jotam Confino (@mrconfino) November 25, 2023
Yael Adar, Yaffa's daughter-in-law, likened seeing Yaffa standing on her own two feet to reclaiming Jerusalem.
Her family had been worried about her health while she was in captivity, as she didn't have access to her medication for chronic pain and her blood pressure.
Yaffa remains unaware of the fate of kidnapped or killed neighbors in Be'eri and does not yet know that her grandson is still in Hamas's hands. Yael Adar said the family would gradually share the news with Yaffa, wary of her post-captivity adjustment.
Yael Adar called on the people of Israel to stand in solidarity and campaign for those still in captivity, vowing not to remain silent until every hostage returned home.
On social media, author Iris Boker called Yaffa the embodiment of Zionism and Israeli resilience.
In October, soon after her abduction, the National Holocaust Center and Museum paid homage to Yaffa, who survived the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland during the Nazi Holocaust.
Hamas released 13 Israelis and 11 foreigners, 10 from Thailand and one from the Philippines, on Friday as part of a negotiated four-day pause in fighting.
In exchange for releasing the hostages, Israel agreed to a four-day cease-fire in Gaza, pausing its aerial bombardment and ground invasion that began following the October 7 terrorist attacks.
The hostages released by Hamas have undergone initial medical tests and are reportedly in good condition, per the IDF. Some of the hostages are being freed during a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas is expected to release 14 more hostages on Saturday in exchange for 42 Palestinian prisoners.