By Pesha Magid
LAVON, Israel (Reuters) -A tightly-packed crowd in the northern Israeli town of Lavon leapt to their feet and erupted into jubilant cheers at news of the release of Alon Ohel, 24, a hostage from their community who had been held by Hamas for over two years.
"It was an amazing feeling. I waited for this moment, specifically to see his face and to see him smiling," said Inbar Halperin, 24, a childhood friend.
She embraced friends with tears in her eyes as the first pictures of their former classmate, showing him now free and on his feet, appeared on live television.
Ohel, a pianist, was wounded by a grenade thrown into the cramped roadside bomb shelter where he had taken cover with almost 30 people on October 7, 2023, as they fled the Hamas attackers who had stormed the site of the Nova Music Festival.
His piano at home, untouched since his abduction, still waits to be played again, said Alon's aunt, Nirit Kremer Ohel.
Hamas handed over 20 surviving Israeli hostages on Monday, part of the first phase of a ceasefire deal engineered by U.S. President Donald Trump, who landed in Israel shortly after Ohel was freed. Israel released about 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners in the exchange deal.
It was only in February this year, 500 days after he was seized, that Ohel's family got the first sign of life from their son. He sent a birthday wish for his sister via two other hostages with whom he had been held in a Hamas tunnel and were freed in a ceasefire earlier this year.
In Lavon, the tight-knit community started to gather at dawn in anticipation of his release, as Ohel's parents made their way to the border to reunite with their son.
"I'm very, very excited," said Kremer Ohel. Alon's family kept his piano open for him since he was abducted to Gaza, she said. "His piano at home is still waiting," she said.
On her way to the border, Alon’s mother Idit Ohel sent a message from the border thanking the community and saying she would soon be with her son, news which was greeted by first a hush and then uproarious applause from the crowd.
As live TV started to report the hostages' release a man blew a traditional Jewish ram's horn, the shofar, to welcome the news. Many wore white t-shirts printed with a picture of Alon.
Halperin said that Alon's friends had prepared a party for his arrival where he could play the piano he loves.
Meir Perez, the chairman of Lavon, opened a bottle of wine that had a label bearing Alon's face. He said that Alon's mother had been keeping it for two years while he was held hostage.
"She asked us to open it," said Perez, passing out plastic cups of red wine, "the minute they will join (together) as a family."
The Gaza war was sparked by a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, that killed around 1,200 people in Israel with 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent offensive has devastated Gaza, killing more than 67,000 Palestinians and leaving much of the enclave in ruins.
(Reporting by Pesha Magid; Editing by Maayan Lubell and William Maclean)
