Hostages Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen and Omer Wenkert released in Gaza

Hostages Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen and Omer Wenkert have been handed to the Red Cross at a choreographed ceremony in Nuseirat, Gaza today.
The men looked thin and unsteady on their feet, but were able to walk onto the stage where, flanked by armed gunmen, they smiled and waved to the crowds of Gazans gathered to watch. Dorected by Hamas cameramen Omer Shem Tov kissed the hooded heads of two of the Hamas guards.  In Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, Israeli crowds cheered and sobbed to see them. 

The three hostages are paraded on stage by Hamas gunmen (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP) (Photo by EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images

Earlier two other hostages, Avera Mengistu and Tal Shoham were handed to the Red Cross in Rafah, and are now in Israel, being reunited with their families. 

Family and friends of Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov wait for his televised release by Hamas militants at the family home in Tel Aviv on February 22, 2025. Masked Hamas militants brought three more Israeli hostages on stage in central Gaza's Nuseirat area on February 22, before handing them over to the Red Cross, an AFP journalist reported. (Photo by JOHN WESSELS / AFP) (Photo by JOHN WESSELS/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images

Eliya Cohen, 27, was kidnapped from the Nova rave along with his fiancée, Ziv Aboud.

The couple tried to flee but was pursued and shot at by Hamas gunmen.

Aboud later recalled how Cohen was pulled from a bomb shelter, placed in a pickup truck, and driven away.

Cohen’s family confirmed his captivity after a photo of him surfaced, and reports from released hostages revealed he was kept in chains, deprived of food, and denied daylight.

Earlier this month, the family revealed that they were informed by recently freed captives that Cohen had been chained for the entire duration of his captivity and received very little food or exposure to daylight.

According to these accounts, which were shared by Sigi Cohen with Hebrew-language media, a bullet wound in his leg remains improperly treated.

Omer Wenkert, 23, was also abducted from the Nova rave during the October 7 attack.

He had been in contact with his parents that morning, telling them he was “scared to death.” Their final communication with him occurred at 7.50AM.

Later, they received a Hamas video showing Omer, bound on the back of a white pickup truck and dressed only in his underwear, confirming that he had been taken hostage in Gaza.

Wenkert suffers from colitis and requires special medical care. His family reported that he has received inadequate treatment, surviving on only three dates a day, a diet that could be fatal given his condition.

Omer Shem-Tov, 22, was last in contact with his parents around 10am on October 7, just before being taken from the Nova rave.

After getting into a friend’s car, the computer programmer sent his family his live location, but they eventually noticed that it was headed toward Gaza, and contact with him was lost.

They later saw a Hamas video that had been posted on Telegram showing Shem-Tov and his friend lying on a floor in Gaza.

They were able to identify Omer from his tattoos, said his mother Shelly.

Shelly said after receiving word, according to Channel 12 news that her son will be released, “I see Omer’s name on TV and I don’t believe it. Now I can say that we can breathe, and I’m just waiting to hug my Omer.”

Al-Sayed, 28, a Bedouin Israeli from the village of Hura in the Negev desert, was taken near the Erez Crossing in April 2015.

Like Avera Mengistu, Al-Sayed suffers from mental illness and according to Human Rights Watch, in the years prior to his entering Gaza, Al-Sayed was “diagnosed with schizophrenia and a personality disorder, among other conditions” and was previously institutionalised.

In one instance, he managed to escape from a hospital and was close to entering Gaza before being stopped, as reported by the group that reviewed his medical records.

Al-Sayed was not heard from again until 2022, when Hamas released a video showing him lying in a bed in poor health and connected to an oxygen tank.

“We’ve been waiting for him for a decade,” his family stated. “It cannot be that the fate of other hostages will be a decade in captivity.”