Three hostages from Israeli music festival among six set for release
The identities of the six hostages who are due to be released by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Saturday have been announced by the families.
Omer Shem Tov, 22, Omer Wenkert, 23, and Eliya Cohen, 27, were abducted from the Nova music festival more than 16 months ago.
Also being released to Israeli authorities is Tal Shoham, 40, who like the other three was taken on October 7, 2023 during the unprecedented terrorist attack committed by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and others in southern Israel.
Two long-term hostages, Hisham al-Sayed. 36, and Avera Mengistu, 39, are also to be handed over, the forum of hostage families announced.
Cohen’s partner survived the massacre at the festival after hiding among dead bodies.
Al-Sayed is an Israeli Arab who reports say is struggling with mental health problems. He crossed the border into the Gaza Strip on his own in 2015.
In 2022, Hamas published images of al-Sayed in a bed with an oxygen mask, which caused outrage in Israel.
Mengistu, who has been held by Hamas since 2014, is also rumoured to have mental health issues. According to the forum, the 39-year-old was born in Ethiopia.
The bodies of four people taken from Israel are also to be handed over on Thursday.
