After two long years — on the eve of the holiday of Simchat Torah this week — Israel finally saw tears of joy. The living hostages are home. Emotional footage shows embraces, tears, and disbelief as they were freed in exchange for more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners — many convicted of deadly, murderous attacks.
HOME AT LAST — AND STILL WAITING
But the euphoric homecomings of the last living 20 hostages are shadowed by unbearable loss. Not every hostage came back alive. Israel also received some of the bodies of murdered hostages, while many more remain unaccounted for.
At ILTV, we’ve followed the story of these hostages since that horrific day two years ago, not as headlines, but as human lives: mothers and fathers, husbands, wives, and children who were stolen from their families. Some are finally home now, facing the long road to recovery. Others have been murdered, with their families still demanding that their bodies be brought back for burial.
We remember every one of them. We bear witness. And we renew the promise, that until every hostage is home, alive or fallen, this story is not over.