” She’s gone back home “. The Israeli army announced Monday the release of Ori Megidish, a soldier held by the Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attack. His release took place after a ground operation carried out by the IDF and Israeli internal intelligence (Shin Bet), during the night from Sunday to Monday. This is the fifth Israeli hostage released since the start of the war.
Who is Ori Megidish?
Aged 18, Ori Megidish is a soldier in the Israeli army. She is from Kiryat Gat, a town located about twenty kilometers from the Gaza border. The young woman was at the Nahal Oz military base, south of the border, where she served as a guard, when she was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, according to the New York Times. She could also work as a field observer, responsible for monitoring threats along the Gaza border, specifies the American daily.
She was rescued between Sunday evening and Monday morning, during the military invasion of Gaza, confirmed a military spokesman, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus. The soldier did not specify exactly where she had been detained. Before her release, the young woman allegedly provided the Israeli security services with precise information about her captivity. She would have managed to remember everything she saw in the Gaza Strip, which could be useful in future operations, added Daniel Hagari, another spokesperson for the Israeli army in The Times of Israel.
What state is she in?
Ori Megidish has undergone medical examinations and “is doing well,” the army assured, without giving further details. Her return home was celebrated Monday evening with joy. A video posted on social networks shows her hugging her grandmother, to the singing of the shophar, a Jewish ceremonial horn.
A crowd also gathered near his house to celebrate his return, amid songs and fireworks. “It’s like a new birth,” said a neighbor of the family, Itamar Trobek, as quoted by the Jerusalem Post. ” We are very happy. We saw the family, they weren’t the same as yesterday. We prayed a lot,” he said.
What official reactions?
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he was “moved to see the soldier return home to her loving family after a daring operation carried out by the IDF and the Shin Bet.”
Before congratulating the Israeli forces: “Our security forces operate 24 hours a day in Gaza, in the North, in the West Bank and everywhere, on land, in the air and at sea, with endless dedication, at the risk of their lives , with a sense of mission and love for the people and the country.”
Same story with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who, also on X, welcomed the land military operation carried out by the IDF.
“Welcome home, Uri. I congratulate the Shin Bet and the Israeli military on this important and exciting achievement, an achievement that expresses our commitment to the release of all those abducted,” he stressed.