Emilia Aloni and her mother Daniel were taken hostage by Hamas militants in Nir Oz on 7 October while visiting family.
A five-year-old Israeli girl has returned to nursery for the first time since being released from Hamas captivity.
Emilia Aloni and her mother Daniel were taken hostage by Hamas in Nir Oz on 7 October while visiting Emilia’s aunt, Sharon Aloni-Cunio.
The three family members, in addition to Sharon’s three-year-old twins Emma and Yuli and their father David Cunio – were released in the brief ceasefire at the end of November.
Read more: Who are the Israeli hostages released by Hamas?
Israel’s ministry of education shared a video of Emilia’s first day back at her kindergarten on X, formerly Twitter, adding, “there is nothing more exciting than this”.
The video shows her being embraced by classmates and a member of staff.
אין מרגש מזה: הכניסה הראשונה של אמיליה אלוני ששוחררה מהשבי, היום לגן הילדים💙 pic.twitter.com/4XUvtJQGOS
— משרד החינוך (@edu_il) December 5, 2023
At 11am during Hamas’s attack on the kibbutz, Daniel sent a “last message” to her family which said there were terrorists in the house and she was afraid they would not survive.
Daniel and Emilia spent a total of 49 days in captivity.
They were two of 23 Israeli hostages released on 24 November.
In a letter published after they were released, Daniel thanked Hamas “for the many hours you spent as caregivers” and said she and her daughter were taken care of.
Source: https://news.sky.com/story/israeli-girl-5-returns-to-kindergarten-after-49-days-as-hostage-13023529
