A British-Israeli woman is breathing a sigh of relief after her mother, a former Gqeberha resident, was released by Hamas almost two months after she and about 240 others were taken hostage.
Channah Peri, 79, and her son, Nadav Popplewell, 51, were last seen being taken hostage into Gaza on October 7.
Peri’s eldest son, Roi, 54, was killed near them on the same day.
Author Ayelet Svatitzky said she was relieved after her mother was safely reunited with her family on Friday.
Popplewell is still being held captive.
Peri was released along with others as part of the temporary ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas which led to a four-day truce. Late on Monday the truce was extended by two days.
The truce has been the first halt in fighting in the seven weeks since Hamas killed 1,200 people and took about 240 hostages into Gaza.
Israel’s retaliation resulted in the deaths of about 14,800 Palestinians by Sunday, 6,000 of whom were children.
“We were reunited with our mother who was released from captivity in Gaza,” Svatitzky said.
“Together with the great excitement and concern for her peace, we [informed] her with great pain of the murder of Roi.
“It was a rocking evening that moved through a rainbow of emotions, as expected.”
Svatitzky said her mother, who was born in Johannesburg but also lived in Cape Town and Gqeberha before she emigrated, was in good health.
Svatitzky and her brothers are all British citizens and hail from Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
Peri left South Africa in the 1960s.
According to a previous interview Svatitzky had with the Jewish Report, she said she would never forget the chilling moment when armed Hamas terrorists sent her three photographs of her mother and Nadav while they were being held captive.
“It’s something you cannot get out of your mind.
“Imagine for one minute what it’s like,” she said at the time.
“Both my mother and my brother have diabetes. My mom needs insulin. My brother needs his medication.
“I have no idea where they are, if they are being fed and looked after. I picture them in a tunnel somewhere in Gaza, but I haven’t heard anything.
“The Red Cross hasn’t been allowed to see the hostages.”
Peri was admitted to the Wolfson Medical Center after her release on Friday and has since been discharged.
Meanwhile, a former Gqeberha school pupil’s wife and three children, who were abducted by gunmen from their home in the Kfar Aza kibbutz, were also released.
The Israeli national Hebrew-language daily newspaper Israel Hayom reported that for 50 days since his family was kidnapped, Avichai Brodutch barely slept.
“He engaged in a public and media struggle to save his wife and children, who were kidnapped along with four-year-old girl Avigail Idan, their neighbour, who hid with them in the safe room after her parents were murdered,” the publication said.
“On the morning of the attack, Avichai heard a knock on the door.
“When he opened it, he noticed Avigail covered in her father’s blood.
“He brought her into the safe room to be with his wife Hagar and three children Ofry, Yuval and Oria, while he went outside to help other residents.
“The wife, three kids, and Avigail were ultimately kidnapped to Gaza and returned on Sunday,” Israel Hayom reported.
Aviva Siegel is a kindergarten teacher and was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza together with her American husband Keith, who is still being held
— South African Jewish Board of Deputies
Kathy Hochul, governor of New York, in a Facebook post at the weekend, said Brodutch was one of the first people she had met when she arrived in Israel.
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) welcomed the release of Peri.
“Peri was from Kibbutz Nirim,” the board said.
“A mother of three, one of her sons [Roi] was killed on October 7. Her other son [Nadav] is still being held hostage.”
The board said another South African, Aviva Siegel, 64, had also been released,
“Aviva is a kindergarten teacher and was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza together with her American husband Keith, who is still being held,” the board said.
“The SAJBD thanks Qatar, Egypt, Israel and the US for facilitating the ceasefire and release of hostages and allowing the enabling of South African citizens being freed.
“We also express our disappointment that the South African government has played and continues to play no meaningful role in the release of the hostages, which is the factor that has ultimately resulted in this temporary ceasefire.
“We respect the families’ need for privacy and continue to offer our prayers and support to them at this very difficult time,” the board said.
Under the Israel-Hamas deal, the two sides initially agreed to a four-day truce so 50 women, children and teenagers under the age of 19 taken hostage could be freed in return for 150 Palestinian women and teenagers in Israeli detention.
Mediator Qatar said on Monday a deal had been reached to extend the truce by two days.
The deal includes an agreement to allow more emergency aid and fuel into Gaza.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society said before the exchange began 7,200 Palestinian prisoners were being held by Israel.
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Those involved in the deal for the release of hostages have described the break in hostilities as a humanitarian pause.
Qatar’s chief negotiator in ceasefire talks, minister of state at the foreign ministry Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, said while the truce was in place, there would be no acts of war.
According to an Israeli cabinet decision, Israel is committed to resuming its offensive against Hamas in Gaza immediately after the truce expires.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is working in Gaza to facilitate the release of hostages.
Hostages have been transported through the Rafah crossing to Egypt, the only country apart from Israel that shares a border with Gaza.
In return, Palestinians have been released from Israeli jails and taken to Jerusalem and Ramallah, the West Bank city which is home to the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority.
During the truce, trucks loaded with aid and fuel have crossed into Gaza, where 2.3-million people have been running out of food and many hospitals have shut down in part because they no longer have fuel for their generators.
-Additional reporting by Reuters
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