All the living hostages are now home
I was not the least bit sure that would ever happen.
Here are some of the joyful reunions, after so much suffering. I chose this particular video because it has a varied sampler, but also because it has some translations of what the hostages and their families are saying. And the first segment features Noa Argamani greeting her released boyfriend Avinatan Or. She was kidnapped at the same time as Avinatan, but was rescued some time ago but could not rest until he was free as well:
I also want to highlight the return and reunion of twins Gali and Ziv Berman, who were each kept hostage separately for two years. I wonder whether they even knew the other was alive, before their release. Here they are flying over a soccer stadium because apparently they’re huge soccer fans:
Obviously the hostages very thin. But they are walking. How they will do from now on depends on a host of factors, including their own psychological resilience, that of their families, and what happens next.
In the “what happens next?” arena, it can’t be ignored that the price paid to get them back was very very high. I will be writing a separate post on that later today. But right now I wanted to keep this post separate, as a celebration of these touching reunions.
Interesting that Palestinians want to play this game: https://x.com/redsteeze/status/1977370039067025614
Since all anyone has to do is compare a 1945 Holocaust survivor picture to this healthy, well clothed pretending victim, and then show also the condition of the returned hostages. There was no genocide or holocaust in Gaza, and they just gave us the proof.
Praise God.
I’ve been watching so many of these videos all day – they are wonderful.
However, I cannot help but think how hard today must be for those whose loved ones did NOT survive.
Let’s hope Oct 7 NEVER happens again!
More videos and some text commentary.
https://hotair.com/john-s-2/2025/10/13/hostages-reunited-with-their-families-n3807786
More stories at HotAir and all over the internet, no point in linking them all!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
charles:
Also hard for the families of those who were murdered by the Palestinian murderers being released in exchange.
As I’ve watched these reunions today they have certainly driven home to me that the foundation of civilization is the family.
The reunions are wonderful.
I agree with Telemachus, family is the bedrock on which civilization ius built.
May they all live long and prosper. And may God comfort those families who will never see their kin again
A day to be remembered.
“Hamas, Other Palestinian Factions Announce: We Are Continuing With ‘Resistance In All Its Forms’ Against Israel” October 13, 2025
“On October 10, 2025, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) published a joint statement stressing that they intend to continue terror attacks against Israel after the ceasefire.
The statement, which came the day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that an agreement had been reached on the first stage of a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip, opened by emphasizing: “We emphasize our determination to continue with the resistance in all its forms until our rights are achieved – first and foremost the removal of the occupation, [Palestinian] self determination, and the establishment of an independent [Palestinian] state with full sovereignty with Jerusalem as its capital.”
Also in the announcement, the factions, including Hamas, rejected out of hand any “foreign guardianship” of the Gaza Strip and emphasized that its administration was an “internal Palestinian matter” to be decided by “national [Palestinian] elements” – meaning that Hamas will be part of the administration of the Gaza Strip.”
https://www.memri.org/reports/hamas-other-palestinian-factions-announce-we-are-continuing-resistance-all-its-forms-against
Geoffrey Britain:
100% predictable.
Let’s see what actually happens, not the blah-blah-blah.
Yael Bar Tur:
https://x.com/yaelbt/status/1977831045027209578
These are the days of miracle and wonder…
I’m not sure what the hell Paul Simon was talking about in his song, “The Boy in the Bubble,” but I’ll swipe his line for today.
Telemachus on October 13, 2025 at 5:33 pm said:
“As I’ve watched these reunions today they have certainly driven home to me that the foundation of civilization is the family.”
I certainly respect your experience and career as a diplomat, and that the family is foundational for rearing and protecting children to advance into adulthood to continue a given society.
But for civilization, perhaps more is needed. Niall Ferguson suggests literacy and writing played a large (although probably not sole) role in it, too.
https://www.thefp.com/p/niall-ferguson-without-books-we-will-be-barbarians?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
[This FP item was not behind the paywall during a “free week” period promotion, which is the only reason I was able to access it. It might now be behind a paywall.]
And an interesting essay by Michael Magoon considers the role of agriculture and the domestication of selected plants and only some animals, as also a foundation for progress across mankind, thus also contributary to “civilization”. But he points out that only certain regions of the world had these favorable biological and geographical conditions leading to real agriculture. So only once “progress” had reached the state of a fossil fuel fueled industrial revolution, could or would the areas not so blessed with prime agricultural characteristics also be able to develop them to a degree. https://frompovertytoprogress.substack.com/p/the-seeds-of-civilization-how-geography
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Even watching the same video of the hostage reunions more than once elicits tears of emotion a second or third time. And the screams of joy are just primal in intensity!
To all those responsible…..thank you!