By Alex Oliveira
Hamas released 17 more hostages Sunday, including nine children and an 84-year-old mother of five who Israel said is in life-threatening condition.
Sunday’s group of 14 Israeli citizens and three Thai nationals brings the total freed since the four-day ceasefire with Israel began Thursday to 58.
Among those released was the first American citizen to be freed during the cease-fire: a girl who turned 4 years old in captivity and whose parents were murdered by the terror group during its October 7 attack on Israel.
A Russian-Israeli was also freed — the first Israeli adult male to be released during the cease-fire. He was working as a sound engineer at the Tribe of Nova music festival when it was overwhelmed by Hamas.
In return for the hostages, Israel agreed to hand over dozens of Palestinian prisoners and send truckloads of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The cease-fire deal allowed for Hamas to extend the truce one day for every 10 additional hostages released.
These are the 14 Israelis freed Sunday:
Abigail Mor Edan, 4
Little Abigail turned 4 years old Friday while being held hostage by Hamas, the terror group which murdered both her parents and orphaned her during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
A dual US and Israeli citizen, Abigail is the first American hostage to be released by Hamas.
Her father, 43-year-old Roy Edan, had been trying to shield her in his arms when terrorists gunned him down alongside her mother, Smadar Edan, 38.
Abigail’s older siblings, 6 and 9, witnessed the murders and thought their younger sister had died, too. They managed to hide throughout the remainder of the massacre and escape to safety.
But Abigail survived, and covered in her father’s blood, crawled from beneath his body and sought shelter in a neighbor’s home before eventually being taken hostage.
Alma Avraham, 84
Avraham was rushed by helicopter to an Israeli hospital in critical condition immediately upon her release, the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba confirmed, according to the Jerusalem Post.
It remains unclear exactly what the emergency is, but Israeli officials previously confirmed she suffers from a cardiac condition that requires a constant regiment of medication to manage, Ynet reported.
A mother of five, the elderly Avraham was home alone on the morning of Oct. 7 when terrorists flooded Nahal Oz.
She hid in her home’s saferoom as she called her family for help, but its door was too heavy for her to lock, and she was captured, according to the Times of Israel.
Aviva Adrienne Siegel, 62
A South Africa-born kindergarten teacher and mother, Siegel was kidnapped alongside her husband, North Carolina-born Keith Siegel, 64.
As a teacher, Siegel dedicated her career to teaching children from both Jewish and Arab backgrounds, according to the Jerusalem Post.
The couple have lived together in Israel for decades.
Her husband remains in captivity by Hamas.
Ron Krivoi, 25
Krivoi was working as a sound engineer at the Tribe of Nova music festival when Hamas terrorists swarmed over the event Oct. 7, indiscriminately murdering and taking revelers hostage as they fled.
A Russian-Israeli nationalist, Krivoi’s release was secured with the help of the Russian government, which has appeared sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.
He worked in construction on the side to support his long-term goal of working in the music business full time, according to the New York Times.
Krivoi is the first adult Israeli male hostage to be released by Hamas.
Hagar, Ofri, Yuval, and Oriya Brodetz
Hagar Brodetz, 40, stayed home with her three children, Ofri, 10, Yuval, 8, and Oriya, 4, as her husband Avichai Brodutch, 42, ran into the fray on the morning of Oct. 7 to help defend their kibbutz from Hamas terrorists.
The father survived but upon returning home found his family gone.
Hagar was known as a leader in their community before it was massacred. She is good with numbers and often helped her neighbors organize their finances. She also has enjoyed baking French pastries.
Before being taken hostage, Ofri loved playing her guitar and listening to rock and roll. Yuval couldn’t get enough of playing Minecraft with his friends, and Oriya had a knack for tracking mud across the house while playing with his trucks.
Chen, Agam, Gal, and Tal Goldstein-Almog
Four of the Goldstein-Almogs, a family of six, were taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7. The other two, 48-year-old father and husband Nadav, and eldest daughter Yam, 20, were killed in the fighting.
Nadav had been on crutches from an athletic injury when he was killed, and Yam was serving in the Israeli Defense Force.
Chen, 48, and her surviving three kids Agam, 17, Gal, 11, and Tal 9, were snatched by terrorists and taken into captivity in Gaza.
October 7 was not the first time the Goldstein Almogs have been devastated by terrorist violence — in October 2003, five members of their family were killed in a terrorist attack in Haifa, according to the Times.
Dafna and Ela Elyakim
Sisters Dafna and Ela Elykim, 15 and 8, were at their father Noam’s home in Niz Oz on Oct. 7 when Hamas terrorists stormed the house while livestreaming the attack on Facebook Live.
Noam was mortally wounded when he was shot in the leg, and Dafna was filmed crying over him in the Facebook video, according to the Times of Israel. He later died alongside his girlfriend and her son.
After the girls were taken hostage, their mother and Noam’s ex-wife, Maayan Zin, begged President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to send her into Gaza to be with them in captivity.
“Put me in Gaza. I will be hostage 243. If only I could hold them and tell them everything would be alright. Hug them and tell them that Mom is here — no matter what, Mom is here,” she pleaded in an emotional video posted to X in early November.
