Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has apologized to the freed Israeli hostage for the lengthy time it took to return him.
Eli Sharabi was released last month as part of a peace deal with Hamas.
Mr Netanyahu's office said in a statement that the Israeli leader told him: “I am truly sorry it took us so long. We worked tirelessly to bring you back.”
An exhausted Mr Sharabi was released after 16 months in captivity to learn that his wife and two teenage daughters had been killed in a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
Mr Sharabi, who has spoken out about harsh conditions in detention, is due to meet President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday.
Mr. Netanyahu said the meeting was important, and Mr. Sharabi responded, according to the statement, that perhaps “together we can end this whole story.”
Meanwhile, in Israel, mourners attended the final funerals of eight hostages whose bodies were returned from Gaza during the first phase of the ceasefire.
Crowds lined the long route of the funeral procession for Yitzhak Elgarat, who was 68 when he was kidnapped by Hamas militants from his home on Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Israel confirmed he was killed in captivity, but the circumstances of his death remain unknown. His brother Danny told mourners that in their last phone conversation on October 7, 2023, his brother told him: “Danny, this is the end.”
“Unfortunately, you were right,” Danny Elgarath said in a moving tribute to his brother. “We tried our best to prove you wrong. We failed. We didn’t do enough.”
Danny Elgarath, a prominent activist in the public fight for the release of the hostages, criticized Mr. Netanyahu for failing to bring his brother back alive.
“The enemy who caused your death was not the one who kidnapped you, but the one who abandoned you,” he noted.
“You were able to survive the kidnapping, meet with your captors and endure the trauma for many months, but ultimately succumbed to the breakdown (of the hostage deal) and the abandonment by your own prime minister.”
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
