In a small play area at a medical centre just outside Tel Aviv, Or, an emaciated and exhausted father, engulfed his son in his arms for the first time in 16 months.
Almog, his three-year-old son, responded in kind and desperately tried to get his hands round his father’s shoulders.
They buried their heads in each others’ necks, unwilling to let each other go ever again.
It’s no wonder the pair were so keen to be reunited. On Saturday, 34-year-old Or Levy was returned to what remains of his family after spending 491 days as a Hamas hostage.
The joy of seeing being reunited with his son was superseded by the grief of learning that his wife, 32-year-old Eynav, was killed at the Nova Festival, where they had been when Hamas began its attack on October 7 2023.
Terrified, they headed for their car when the rockets started, then sought refuge in a roadside bomb shelter before they were separated.
From that tragic day until Saturday, Or spent his days in near-total solitude, never knowing what happened to his young family on that tragic day until Saturday, when he was released to his family.
A visibly emaciated Or, who had reportedly lost 20kg (44lbs) during his imprisonment, was released by the terror group on Saturday, when he was paraded round the Gaza Strip and made to answer humiliating questions in front of a large crowd alongside Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ami, two other hostages released by Hamas.
Almog and Or were seen embracing each other for the first time in 16 months
Undated handout photo issued by the Embassy of Israel of Or Levy, who was held hostage by Hamas, pictured with his wife Eynav, who was killed the Nova Music Festival, and their son Almog
Or Levy being handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Israel, in Deir al Balah, Gaza, on February 8, 2025.
But the former hostage had to stay strong for his son, with whom he spoke in a video call before meeting him at the Sheba Medical Centre near Tel Aviv.
‘Dad, it took you a long time to come back.’
These were the tragic first words Or Levy heard from Almog, after being kept from him for nearly half his life.
Almog also handed Or several gifts, including a small ball and several drawings.
Little is known about how the ordeal has affected Or, Almog, or the rest of the family.
Since the tragic day that his father was kidnapped and mother was kill;ed, the families of Mr and Mrs Levy have been forced to step up and raise Almog, who had reportedly been asking about his father frequently over the last 16 months.
And Or himself has not yet spoken out about what happened to him over the last 16 months.
Almog gave his father several gifts, including a small ball and several drawings
Little is known about how the ordeal has affected Or, Almog, or the rest of the family
Pnina Elkayem, Eynav Levy’s mother, told the Kan public broadcaster, however that she is hopeful that her families live may return to some semblance of normality.
‘Today I’m going back to being a grandmother. It was a difficult time, but now we see the light at the end of the tunnel. A different life lies ahead of us’, she said.
It is expected that it will take a long time for the three hostages to physically recover.
Dr Hagar Mizrahi, a health ministry representative, said they were all ‘severely malnourished.’
They were also reportedly abused so severely by Hamas that they had to learn how to walk again before their release.
Terrorists hung them by their feet, throttled them with rope, gagged their mouths and branded them with burning objects.
The captives were deliberately starved, held in a room inside a tunnel so tiny they could not move nor stand and were left struggling for air.
After days without food or water they were handed rotten pita bread which they were made to share with others.
Released hostage Or Levy, who was seized during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, embraces a loved one as he is reunited with his family at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, in a handout photo obtained by Reuters on February 8, 2025
Palestinian Hamas fighters escort Israeli hostage Or Levy on a stage before handing him over to a Red Cross team in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on February 8, 2025
A released hostage Or Levy, who was seized during the deadly October 7 2023 attack by Hamas, is seen with his brother through a window of a helicopter that lands at Sheba Medical Center, for treatment following his release from Gaza, in Ramat Gan, Israel, February 8, 2025
‘We were treated like animals,’ one said on being released.
It was only when they were due for release that the captives were permitted food so that they could stand on their feet during the handover ceremony.
Detailing the horrific abuse on Israeli channel Kan 11, journalists warned: ‘It is impossible to process the things we are about to reveal now.’
They said: ‘The three were deliberately starved, going for long days without any food at all.
‘Every few days, they were given a rotten pita bread, which they were forced to share with other hostages held with them. They went entire days without receiving any water. They did not drink.
‘One of the hostages even collapsed in captivity. It was a traumatic event—those held with him thought he had died.
‘All of them endured horrific torture—things that are difficult to fathom, but it is crucial to tell what is happening in the tunnels.
‘They were taken separately for brutal interrogations by the terrorists, who demanded information while inflicting severe physical abuse.
‘They were strangled, their limbs were tied, their mouths were covered with cloth to the point of suffocation, they were hung by their feet, and they suffered burns caused by a heated object.
‘Regarding the conditions of their captivity, according to the testimonies, they were confined in a small room inside a tunnel where they could not move, certainly not stand, and struggled to breathe. They remained alone for long days. They were barefoot the entire time.’
