Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed home the six hostages released from Gaza on Saturday as part of the hostage-ceasefire deal with Hamas.
I bless the return home of Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Omer Wenkert, Tal Shoham, Avera Mengistu, and Hisham Al-Sayed,” the prime minister wrote in a statement posted to X/Twitter. “My heart bursts with excitement, and we embrace the families. Their return is a moment of joy and relief for their families and for all the people of Israel.”He also mentioned the tragic news of the deaths of Ariel, Kfir, and Shiri Bibas.
“The heart of the nation was broken by the kidnapping and brutal murder of Shiri and her children – Ariel and Kfir, of blessed memory,” he wrote. “We share in the deep sorrow of the Bibas family and embrace them warmly. We will not forget, and we will not forgive.”
A nation celebrates and mourns
Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a Saturday statement that Israel must continue to fight for the remaining hostages’ release.
“We must do everything to bring back all the hostages – the living and the fallen alike – home, and to ensure that the regime of the Hamas monsters in Gaza is destroyed and no longer poses a threat to our citizens,” he wrote.
In the statement, Katz also mourned the loss of the Bibas brothers and their mother, Shiri, “who were murdered with unparalleled cruelty at the hands of Hamas terrorists and their accomplices.”
He also called the release of six living hostages “an emotional moment filled with joy.”
Former national defense minister Itamar Ben-Gvir implied that the return of the six freed hostages should mean furthering the war against Hamas.
“Together with all the people of Israel, I was moved to see the return of those freed from Hamas captivity – Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, Eliya Cohen, Tal Shoham, Avera Mengistu, and Hisham al-Sayed,” he wrote. “We all saw the unimaginable cruelty like that of the Nazis towards them and towards Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir Bibas, may their memory be a blessing.
“The State of Israel must not remain silent about this. Now is the time to open the gates of hell on Hamas, we must return to war, destroy, and avenge!”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also welcomed home the six freed men in a Saturday post on X.“Good week. Tal, Omer, Eliya, Omer, Avera, and Hisham, welcome home!”
Opposition leader Yair Lapid, alongside National Unity leader Benny Gantz, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, and Democrats (Labor) leader Yair Golan, called on the government to secure a release for all of the remaining hostages in Gaza at once.
“We call to shorten the wait for their return and to seek a one-time release, and vow to allow political and public backing for this move.”
The Tikva Forum called on Israeli politicians to issue an ultimatum and stop negotiating with Hamas. “There will be no more steps, no more bargaining, and no more negotiations. There is an ultimatum after which the gates of hell in Gaza,” the forum wrote in a Saturday statement.