They emerged thin, pale and blinking in the daylight. The final living twenty Israeli hostages were freed from Gaza after 738 days in captivity.

Some said they had lost track of time; others feared this day would never come. For their families, the reunions were both miraculous and sobering — a reminder of how few had made it out alive.

Evyatar David, 24, had become a symbol of the captives’ despair.

A video released in August showed him, frail and skeletal, digging what he said was his own grave in a Gaza tunnel.

When he finally stepped free, he clasped his hands in the shape of a heart with a faint smile on a face known around the world.

Among the released, Avinatan Or, 32, was reunited with his girlfriend Noa Argamani, who had been rescued in June 2024.

Mr Or, who was held in isol

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