Freed hostage Alon Ohel returned to his home in northern Israel Friday after being discharged from Rabin Medical Center, where he recovered following his release from Hamas captivity.
He departed the Petah Tikvah hospital with his family in the morning and set out on the two-hour journey to Lavon, marking the first time he returns to his hometown since Hamas terrorists kidnapped him into Gaza on October 7, 2023.
“I’m returning to my home in the north to begin a process of rehabilitation and to rebuild myself so that I can accomplish all of my goals,“ Ohel said upon his release.
The 24-year-old was cheered on by well-wishers as he traveled north. Crowds gathered at the Mitzpeh Aviv junction in northern Israel to welcome him back, holding a banner that read: “Alon, how amazing! Now you’re home.”
Upon his arrival in the Misgav Regional Council, where Lavon is located, Ohel got out of his van and greeted supporters, thanking them for their “incredible love.”
Though healthy enough to leave the hospital, he still wore a gauze bandage covering his right eye, which was injured by bullet shrapnel from a Hamas gunman during the terror group’s October 7 massacre of Nova festival partygoers.
“Everything is alright. I’m incredibly happy to see everyone, see all this love. Everything’s getting better from here on out; we’re moving forward. Thanks to all the people of Israel,” he said, marveling at the “incredible love” he had received. “It’s really not taken for granted.”
When asked when and if he would return to playing the piano, Ohel responded that he is slowly easing himself back into his life’s passion. “We’re working on it,” he said.
Addressing the crowd, Ohel thanked those “who accompanied us and were with my family every single moment.”
“It’s important for me to say that all this love also reached 50 meters underground in Gaza. I felt it every moment. It was crazy, and it’s such a joy to come back all together, united.”
A day prior, the hostage Matan Angrest also returned to his home in the Haifa suburb of Kiryat Bialik.
Several of the freed hostages in the process of recovery have still not returned home. Some are staying with their families in the Kfar Maccabiah Hotel in Ramat Gan, where they are receiving medical and rehabilitation care according to their needs.
Source: Times of Israel
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