New York celebrates rescue of four hostages from Hamas

Hundreds came together in New York to celebrate the rescue of the four hostages in a short ceremony on Sunday in which they wrote on the posters with their photos that had been hanging around the city “HOME!”

On the occasion Darren Fields, a close friend of Shlomi Ziv who was rescued, tearfully shared about the first video call with Shlomi after his return: “I told him he was a hero and a king, and he told me back ‘You are a hero!’ You are a king!’.

He is very strong and in good condition, compared to someone who was held captive for 8 months. We both cried like children’, said Darren.

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, whose son Sagui is still held captive by Hamas, spoke at the event: “We are so excited and happy for those who returned and their families, and we remind again – only a deal will bring home the many dozens who are still there.

All those who were rescued were held in apartments above ground, but we know that most of the hostages are held in tunnels and therefore we demand – a deal, now”, said the father of captive Sagui.

Activists of the Hostages Families Forum in the city passed out stickers in memory of commander Arnon Zamora Z”L, who fell during the heroic rescue operation of the four hostages.

Over the weekend Four hostages were rescued by the Israeli military from central Gaza, in an operation that was weeks in the planning.

For Israelis it brought celebration and relief. For Palestinians it brought more suffering, with hospitals saying dozens of people – including children – were killed in the raid on the densely populated Nuseirat camp.

The released were identified as 26-years-old hostage Noa Argamani. other were 41-years-old Shlomi Ziv, 27-years-old Andrey Kozlov and Almog Meir.