Bittersweet moment tearful Hamas hostage Maya Regev is reunited with her family in hospital seven weeks after she was shot and kidnapped but her teenage brother is still being held captive

• Maya, 21, was one of 58 hostages released by Hamas during the past four days
• But her teen brother Itay, 18, remains in captivity and ‘could not be located’ 

Israeli festivalgoer Maya Regev, who was shot and subsequently kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in their brutal October 7 attacks, has been released and reunited with her family ahead of surgery – but is still missing her teenage brother.

Maya, 21, was one of 58 hostages released by Hamas over the course of the past four days of ceasefire between Israel’s Defence Forces and the Palestinian group.

She was abducted from the Nova music festival – where 364 people lost their lives as Hamas gunmen streamed over the border on motorbikes, in trucks and with paragliders – but not before she caught a stray bullet. 

Despite her injuries, Maya managed to cling to life and spent some 50 days languishing in captivity ahead of her eventual release on Saturday night, with harrowing photos showing how she was hauled out of a Red Cross van and escorted by masked Hamas militants as she shuffled about on crutches. 

Her reunion with family members in Soroka hospital in the Israeli city of Be’er-Sheva, captured in heart-rending video footage, was bittersweet.

Maya can be heard sobbing as she embraced her family while sitting in her hospital bed, elated to have been freed and in the company of loved ones, but mourning for her teen brother Itay, 18, who remains in Hamas captivity. 

A Hamas fighter and Red Cross medics help newly released Israeli hostage Maya Regev into a Red Cross vehicle in the Gaza Strip

Maya, an attendee at the Nova music festival, was shot and subsequently kidnapped on October 7

Her reunion with family members in Soroka hospital in the Israeli city of Be’er-Sheva, captured in heart-rending video footage, was bittersweet

Medical staff watch on as Maya embraces her family members ahead of surgery

Itay is one of several Hamas hostages that the terror group say they cannot locate. 

Hamas says it is willing to EXTEND ceasefire by releasing extra hostages as truce enters its final day – but Netanyahu warns the terror group must be ‘eliminated’ whenever fighting resumes 

Though some hostages were held by Hamas officials, others were split up and taken away by Gazan civilian groups or armed gangs, according to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who led the effort to broker the ceasefire between the IDF and Hamas. 

As the IDF continues its operations in Gaza to try and locate and free the remaining hostages, Maya is set to undergo surgery to repair damage dealt by the bullet wound.

She was described as being in ‘moderate condition’ by Soroka hospital staff, with Dr Shlomi Kodesh telling Israel’s i24 News her life was not in danger but that surgery was necessary for Maya to make a full recovery. 

Much like Maya, several of the hostages released by Hamas this weekend find themselves confronting a dark new reality. 

They have been granted their freedom, but are now burdened by the knowledge that other members of their family are still in captivity, or worse, were slaughtered on October 7.

Two such newly freed hostages are siblings Noam and Alma Or, aged 16 and 13. 

They were greeted by joyful grandparents, as well as their older brother Yali, 18, on Saturday before undergoing medical checks following their lengthy captivity.

But the teens’ elation at regaining their freedom quickly evaporated when they were informed that their mum Yonat had been gunned down by Hamas attackers in kibbutz Be’eri on October 7.

Uncle Ahal Besorai, a British-Israeli lawyer, told The Guardian how the kids broke down upon hearing their mother’s fate.

‘Unfortunately, they were not aware that my sister, their mum, was murdered,’ he said.

‘Suddenly they come to see their loved ones for the first time in 50 days and the first piece of news that they are confronted with is that their mum is no longer alive. I think it was very traumatic, there were a lot of tears, a lot of pain.’

The youngest hostage released this weekend – four-year-old dual Israeli-American citizen Abigail Edan – also lost both of her parents in the October 7 attacks.

‘What she endured was unthinkable,’ Biden said of the first American freed under the truce. He did not know her condition and did not provide updates on other American hostages. 

Maya was one of the 13 Israeli and four hostages Hamas released late Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023, in the second round of swaps under a cease-fire deal, the Israeli military said

Noam and Alma Or, aged 16 and 13, are two of 58 hostages freed thus far under a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas

Dror Or and Yonat Or are pictured in this undated photo. Yonat was killed by Hamas attackers in the October 7 slaughter – Dror remains missing, presumed kidnapped

The Or family are pictured in this undated photo

Yonat Or, her husband Dror and their teenage daughter Alma, 13

With the four-day ceasefire set to expire today, Hamas has declared it wants to see an extension of the temporary peace agreement to negotiate the release of more hostages from Gaza in return for Palestinian prisoners.

A statement released last night by Hamas called for ‘an extension of the truce after the conclusion of the four-day period, through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from captivity as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement.’ 

International mediators led by the US, Egypt and Qatar are now trying to extend the ceasefire that began Friday to allow for the exchange of more hostages as war weary Gazans seek more reprieve from Israeli bombs. 

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was resolute in his intentions to crush Hamas, declaring his forces would resume its offensive ‘with all of our might’ once the truce expires.

Ahead of the latest hostage release, Netanyahu donned body armour and visited the Gaza Strip, where he spoke with troops.

‘At the end of the day we will return every one,’ he said of the hostages, adding that ‘we are continuing until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us.’ It was not clear where he went inside Gaza.

The Israeli Prime Minister had previously told US President Joe Biden he would be willing to extend the truce with Hamas an extra day for every 10 hostages that are released.

But after the Qatari-brokered deal was agreed last week, Netanyahu said the goals to ‘eliminate Hamas and get the hostages back’ would continue unhindered irrespective of when the truce finally comes to a close. 

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