Yosef-Haim Ohana, 25, who was held hostage in Gaza for 738 days, returned home Sunday to Kiryat Malachi after completing his rehabilitation. Freed on October 13 as part of the war-ending deal, Ohana was greeted by hundreds of supporters waving Israeli flags and carrying signs reading “Welcome Home.”
“It’s hard when everyone looks at you like this,” Ohana said before arriving home. “But all the love I’m receiving says everything.” Quoting the Shema prayer, he proclaimed: “Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad,” which celebrates the oneness of God. As he stepped out of the car, supporters lifted him onto their shoulders and carried him to City Hall, where he blew a shofar and addressed the crowd amid a shower of candy.
Yosef-Haim Ohana returns to his home in Kiryat Malachi
(Video: Photo: Tomer Shunam Halevi)
Visibly emotional, he said: “The first thing I’ll do when I get home is cry. Each one of you is like an angel. This warmth and welcome prove we have one heart. You're here for the hard times and the joyous ones. I love each and every one of you. Just as your smile gave me strength, I ask you — never stop smiling at one another. Let’s live with the knowledge that nothing is to be taken for granted. Thank you for everything.”
He added: “People ask what we went through and how we’re doing — that gives us space to share and be heard.”
Ohana also mentioned Staff Sgt. Ran Gvili, whose body remains in Gaza after he was killed in battle and abducted during the October 7 massacre. “We need to bring back dear Ran. His family deserves to have him here,” he said.
Ohana’s father, Avi, also spoke. “For two years we cried out for this day. I want to tell you: I love you with all my soul," he said. "This day didn’t come by chance — it came after millions of prayers from the people of Israel that Yosef-Hhaim would be saved and return home against all odds. It’s a great miracle, a personal splitting of the sea. Thank you for this blessed day.”
Ohana was kidnapped from the Nova music festival, where he worked as a bartender. During the attack, he helped evacuate wounded civilians to ambulances outside the site. So beloved was he among friends that one even tattooed Ohana’s face on his body.
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Yosef-Haim Ohana greeted by friends and neighbors upon his return home
(Photo: Tomer Shunam Halevi)
On the day of his son's release, Avi Ohana said: “I ask everyone to applaud the soldiers of the IDF. Before the holiday, I bought Yosef-Haim a set of the Four Species, praying he would return to bless them. Now that he’s out, we’ll film him making the blessing.”
The day after his release, Ohana reunited at Sheba Medical Center with several friends who had also survived the Nova massacre. “Yosef-Haim told us he didn’t know we were alive — he was surprised,” said his friend Neta Avir Lev. “He didn’t know who had survived, who had been kidnapped, or who had died.”