US-Israeli girl Abigail Edan, 4, discharged from hospital after being freed by Hamas
A four-year-old US-Israeli girl, who was released from the captivity of Hamas militants earlier this week after more than 50 days as a hostage, has been discharged from hospital.
Abigail Edan, whose parents were killed in last month’s terror attack in Israel, was released from captivity in Gaza on Sunday. She was one of the first hostages to be released.
A spokesperson for Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikvah confirmed that she had been discharged late on Tuesday to the Salina Post.
Abigail marked her fourth birthday in captivity.
The little girl’s story has drawn significant worldwide attention, having crawled out from underneath her slain father and, reportedly covered in blood, going to the home of neighbours, who were then taken captive with her.
Abigail marked her fourth birthday in captivity
(via REUTERS)
She was singled out in remarks made by US President Joe Biden in remarks following her release on Sunday. “Thank God she’s home. I wish I were there to hold her,” he told reporters.
Speaking following her release, Abigail’s great-aunt Liz Hirsh Naftali said: “We are now on the other side.
“Abigail is home. Not in her home. But she is home in Israel. Because her home is destroyed. They can’t return to where they lived. She has no parents to go home to.”
Asked how Abigail was doing, Hirsh Naftali added, “OK because she has that loving family, because she is going to be supported.”
But, she added, “Keep in mind, we will not know for years what the effect is on any of these children or adults that have spent 50, 52, now 54 days in the dark.”
The youngster, whose parents were killed in the Hamas terror attack last month, was released from captivity in Gaza on Sunday
(AP)
It comes as a truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas – which has so far facilitated the release of several dozen hostages – was extended on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that Hamas had begun releasing 16 hostages from captivity in Gaza, the sixth release of Israeli hostages under the cease-fire agreement.
Hamas militants who attacked southern Israel on October 7 kidnapped some 240 people, including babies, children, women, soldiers, older adults and Thai farm laborers. The initial waves of releases have centred on women and children.
