Orit Meir, Almog Meir Jan’s mother, felt incredibly happy and surprised when she heard that her son had been rescued on Saturday. She screamed with joy and couldn’t believe it. She always held onto hope that he would come back.
Almog Meir Jan, along with Noa Argamani, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv, were kidnapped during the Nova music festival in Israel on Oct. 7. They were all rescued by the Israel Defense Forces in central Gaza.
Meir finally slept peacefully on Sunday night, feeling relieved and happy.
She hopes that all families of the hostages will experience the same joy she did. She wants the Israeli government and the international community to pressure Hamas to bring the remaining hostages home quickly.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the rescue operation and promised to keep searching until all the hostages were found. He commended the bravery of the soldiers and vowed to defeat the kidnappers.
The rescued hostages were found to be in good health.
Almog Meir Jan’s uncle mentioned that although he’s generally okay physically, they were worried about him.
During his captivity, Jan was able to watch Al-Jazeera and even saw pictures of himself at a rally in Israel.
The hostages were rescued from two different places in Nuseirat, central Gaza, where many refugees live due to ongoing conflict.
According to officials from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, many Palestinians were injured or killed during the IDF operation in Nuseirat.