Emilia Aloni, one of the youngest hostages taken by Hamas during the October 7 massacre, has returned to kindergarten Tuesday. This was the first day she attended since September 28, when classes were dismissed for the Jewish holidays.
Just beautiful!
5-year-old Emilia Aloni, who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for 50 days, is hugged by her friends from kindergarten today, on her first day back.pic.twitter.com/u4U43Qdd1y
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) December 5, 2023
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In a heartwarming video recorded by Emilia's mother, Danielle, and released on social networks by the family and the Israeli Ministry of Education, the teacher is seen opening the gate for Emilia, saying: "Welcome, welcome, welcome – I feel like breaking into song! Wow, I love her!" After she hugs the 5-year-old girl, the other girls start hugging her too. One of them is heard telling Emilia: "I missed you for such a long, long time," and "I missed you. I saw you on TV."
Emilia and her mother Danielle, 44, were visiting Danielle's sister, Sharon Aloni-Cunio (34), in Kibbutz Nir-Oz on the weekend of October 6-7. Aloni-Cunio had been living there with her husband, David (34), who grew up in the Kibbutz. On the morning of October 7, they were texting with their families, reporting they were in the safe room until Danielle's last voice message, on 11:20 a.m., in which she said the Hamas terrorists had set the house on fire and smoke was coming in under the door. That was the last time her family had heard from her.
Video: IDF and ISA forces revealed a significant 55-meter-long terrorist tunnel / Credit: X/@idf
Later that day, David's brother, who still lives in the Kibbutz, went into the house and found no remnants of the family. A TikTok video showing a few of the family members on a pickup truck revealed David and Sharon, along with their 3-year-old twin girls, Yuly and Emma, as well as Danielle and Emilia, were all taken hostage by Hamas.
Later, Danielle was one of three of the Israeli women held by Hamas chosen to appear in a propaganda video blaming Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for the events. Danielle and Emilia were among the first batch of hostages released on November 24 as part of the weeklong ceasefire , while Sharon and her daughters were released on November 27. David is still being held captive, along with his brother, Ariel; Ariel's girlfriend, Arbel Yehud; Arbel's brother, Dolev Yehud; as long as over a hundred other hostages.
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