{"id":23497,"date":"2025-05-19T13:00:50","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T10:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/?p=23497"},"modified":"2025-05-19T14:06:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T11:06:42","slug":"freed-hostages-reunite-for-the-first-time-since-their-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/freed-hostages-reunite-for-the-first-time-since-their-release\/","title":{"rendered":"Freed Hostages Reunite for the First Time Since Their Release"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sagui Dekel-Chen, who was released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip about three months ago, visited Edan Alexander\u2014recently freed\u2014in the hospital where he is recovering.<\/p>\n<p>The two were held together during part of their time in captivity. Their reunion brought back memories from the darkest period of their lives, making for an intense and deeply moving encounter.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_23500\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-23500\" style=\"width: 626px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-23500 \" src=\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-124.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"626\" height=\"834\" srcset=\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-124.webp 424w, https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/2-124-225x300.webp 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 626px) 100vw, 626px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-23500\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Edan Alexander and Sagui Dekel-Chen | Photo: Uncredited<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>\u201cOur fates became intertwined in the most unimaginable circumstances\u201d<\/strong><br \/>\nDekel-Chen shared, \u201cEdan and I were together for part of our time in captivity,\u201d and spoke about the deep bond that had formed between them under those harsh and unforgiving conditions. He said it was important for him \u201cto come and welcome Edan home. I know what he\u2019s been through\u2014and what he still faces.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His words reflected a powerful sense of shared destiny with Edan and with all of the hostages.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m very happy for Edan and his family,\u201d Sagui said, and added with hope, \u201cI pray that soon I\u2019ll be able to hug all the other hostages who still remain behind.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sagui Dekel-Chen and Edan Alexander met for the first time since their release from Hamas captivity in Gaza; a highly emotional reunion, heavy with memories\u2014but filled with hope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":23499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,2276,85,88],"tags":[3200,1476,3087,1482,1637,4252,3818,4572,5777,2908,5778],"class_list":["post-23497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-people","category-positive-moment","category-will-remember","tag-edan-alexander","tag-gaza","tag-hamas-captivity","tag-hostages","tag-israeli-hostage","tag-israeli-resilience","tag-israeli-unity","tag-october-7-attacks","tag-reunions","tag-sagui-dekel-chen","tag-trauma-recovery"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.7 (Yoast SEO v24.7) - 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