Holocaust survivor, 85, reunited with family after being freed by Hamas

A Holocaust survivor who was swept away on a golf cart by Hamas terrorists in the Oct. 7 attack was pictured beaming alongside her family hours after her release.

Yaffa Adar, one of the 24 captives released by Hamas, was seen smiling in the hospital in photos shared on Facebook by her many adoring relatives.

“I don’t have enough words to describe this feeling. You returned to us after 49 days of shock, panic, worries, tears and endless longing. Finally [we] can start breathing,” Adar’s daughter, Vered Adar, wrote in one gushing post with an image of the pair embracing.

The 85-year-old mother of three, grandmother of seven, and great-grandmother of eight was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nahal Oz last month and was among the first hostages released Friday as part of a temporary ceasefire.

Her eldest grandson, Tamir Adar, 38, was also taken hostage, and remains in Hamas custody, the family said on social media.

“The family gathered together to see if it was really happening, and when I saw her on the TV on her own two feet, I was so happy. It was like we had won back Jerusalem,” Adar’s daughter-in-law Yael Adar told i24 News of the moment the family learned of the octogenarian’s release.

“Since the day she was kidnapped, she doesn’t know much. She doesn’t know anything about the neighbors who were kidnapped or killed, she doesn’t know that her grandson is still being held hostage,” Yael explained.

“I feel that the people of Israel are with us, and I need them to stay with us, but I want us not to forget all those who have not yet returned and we will not remain silent until the last of the hostages returns home.”
Hamas’ attack on Nir Oz killed over 100 people, the Times of Israel reported.