Freed hostage Adam Berger has been reunited with four fellow surveillance IDF soldiers who were released from Hamas captivity a week ago.
In a video taken by the IDF, 20-year-old Berger is seen crying tears of joy while holding an Israeli flag, as she embraces soldiers Liri Albag, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Karina Ariev at the Rabin Medical Centre.
The four women spent the afternoon preparing for Berger’s arrival, writing “hero,” “queen” and “we’ve been waiting for you” on posters decorating their comrade’s hospital room.
Dr. Lena Koren Feldman, director of the medical centre, told the Times of Israel that when the four women watched Berger being released on video, “there were screams of joy and great excitement”.
Berger was among seven other soldiers taken by Hamas operatives from the IDF’s Nahal Oz post on October 7, 2023.
She was handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas this morning and then transferred to the IDF.
After being escorted out of the Gaza Strip by Israeli special forces, she was brought to a facility near the border for an initial check-up and to reunite with her parents after 482 days in Hamas captivity.
The first images of the long-awaited family reunion have now emerged, showing a beaming Berger sitting on her mother’s knee, with her father next to them placing a reassuring hand on her knee.
Two other Israelis, Arbel Yehoud and Gadi Mozes, both of whom are civilians, were also freed today.
However, they were released separately as they were being held by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group rather than Hamas.
In contrast to Berger’s relatively smooth transfer, the pair were marched through a baying mob to a Red Cross convoy as onlookers jeered and attempted to take pictures of them.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the scenes of the hostages being pushed through the crowds “shocking”, saying: “This is further proof of the unimaginable cruelty of the Hamas terrorist organisation.”
