Son of 75-year-old British hostage released from Gaza: ‘I’m over the moon’

75-year-old Israeli-British woman, Ada Sagi, was among the 12 hostages released from Gaza on Tuesday, after being kept in Hamas captivity for 53 days. 

Ada’s son, Noam, told BBC prior to her release that he couldn’t wait to give her the biggest hug possible.

“It really is a beautiful, amazing moment. It’s such a huge relief. I’ve just finished a video call with her. She’s sharp, she’s funny, she’s witty. She’s her own self. I’m over the moon. I just want to feel her and hug her and I want her to know how hard we fought to get to this day and she will know forever how loved she is,” he said in an interview with BBC.

Ada was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 from kibbutz Nir Oz near the Gaza border, after the terror group rampaged the community, executing civilians and burning down homes.

Ada, a peace activist who spoke fluent Arabic, was part of a community which fought all their lives for good relationship with their Arab neighbours.

Noam said that the joy of getting his mother back was also mixed with anxiety over the news he was going to tell her: “She doesn’t know she doesn’t have a home to go back to, she doesn’t know so many of her friends were murdered. We will have to pick up the puzzle and put everything in place… but for now, today, it’s really just about the joy.”

According to BBC, Ada was planning to visit London for her 75th birthday the week after she was taken hostage by Hamas.

Noam had previously told BBC how uncertainty over the wellbeing of his mother and the other hostages amounted to “psychological terror.”

“Every night waiting like a leaf for a list.. Are we in? Are we out? It’s been excruciatingly painful,” he said, describing it as “Russian roulette to the heart,” he said.