Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov's loved ones erupt in joy as they watch his release

(22 Feb 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tel Aviv, Israel - 22 February 2024
1. Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov’s sister, Dana Shem Tov, screaming in celebration as she sees her brother on screen, tilt up to others celebrating
2. Various of people celebrating
3. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew/English) Amit Shem Tov, Omer Shem Tov’s brother:
“(Hebrew) Omer came home. (English) Omer is home, and we can’t be happier than this. Omer you are the man, you are the king. Thank you.”
4. Amit Shem Tov and other relatives and friends hugging and jumping UPSOUND (Hebrew): “Omer is coming back”
5. Omer Shem Tov’s grandmother Sara speaking UPSOUND (Hebrew): “I’m in shock, this is Omer”
6. Family and friends watching release
7. SOUNDBITE (Hebrew) Sara, Omer Shem Tov’s grandmother:
“This is Omer, and for this I was expecting.”
Reporter: "What did you expect?"
Sara (Hebrew): “He is such a boy, he manages with everyone, even with Hamas, he manages with them. Even there they would love him and that’s for sure.”
8. Zoom in to crowd cheering and clapping as they watch hostage release on big screen
STORYLINE:
The family and friends of freed Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov cheered and cried on Saturday as they watched him being released from the Gaza Strip after more than 16 months in captivity.

The 22-year-old's loved ones gathered at the family's home as he, along with two other hostages, were handed over by Hamas on Saturday as part of the latest exchange under a ceasefire deal.

His sister, Dana Shem Tov, erupted in a cry of joy at the first moment she caught a glimpse of her brother at the handover ceremony in Nuseirat.

"Omer you are the man, you are the king," his brother Amit Shem Tov said, wrapped in an Israeli flag.

Shem Tov was among those abducted from the Nova music festival on the day of Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel which sparked the war.

He was released alongside Omer Wenkert and Eliya Cohen in Nuseirat on Saturday.

Earlier Saturday, two other hostages — Tal Shoham, 40, and Avera Mengistu, 38 — were freed in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

A sixth hostage was also due to be freed later, 36-year-old Hisham al-Sayed.

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