RICHMOND, Va. — A renewed sense of hope has been felt by people across the globe and even right here in Richmond, after the peace agreement between Israel and Hamas brought 20 living hostages home on Monday.
The release signaled what many hope is the end of two years of war in Gaza, but for Richmond families with ties to the hostages, the moment was bittersweet.
Among the freed hostages is 24-year-old Alon Ohel, who was kidnapped in October 2023 at the Nova music festival.
He was taken alongside Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American Israeli who spent part of his childhood in Richmond and was killed in captivity in August 2024.
While the young men did not know each other prior to their abduction, both have ties to Richmond, including family friends Dr. Limor Glazer and Melissa Krumbein.
On the final night of the Jewish holiday Sukkot, the women lit several candles as a gesture not only of their faith, but renewed hope.
"The connection and the loyalty of the families and friends I've watched every step of the way, Alon's parents, Alon's family, what they've gone through, what they've done," Glazer said.
Both anguished families have shared their stories about their sons and made pleas to bring them home.
A talented pianist, Alon's family placed pianos across Israel and around the world to raise awareness of his plight.
On Monday, a piano symbolizing hope was unwrapped from its yellow covering at the JCC Community Center in Richmond.
"We all hugged each other, and it was fantastic," Krumbein said.
But the reality that Hersh was not coming home with the hostages served as a reminder of loss.
"I spoke with Rachel this morning, Hersh's mom, said it's very bittersweet. That's what she says. It's, you know, but very, very elated for all of the hostages that came home, so that everybody can have closure," Krumbein said.
On Monday morning, Krumbein took down several posters in her yard of the freed hostages, leaving pictures of those whose bodies have not yet been returned.
The two women also sat down to dinner with close friends to give thanks and to reflect on a war that's devastated so many families, including two that they know and love.
"Every single one of us, we've been rallying and praying for every single person who was hurt, for every family that had damage, had lost people. When I say one name, they say, no, it's everyone," Glazer said.
Watch: Remembering Hersh Goldberg-Polin
Krumbein also has a son who serves in the Israeli military, so she says there's some relief that she feels as a mother, but she worries the situation in the Middle East will always remain fragile.
Prior to Monday's release, there were 48 hostages held in Gaza. Israel has determined that at least 25 of those hostages were killed on October 7, 2023 or died while in captivity.
In exchange for the hostages, Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
Released Palestinians describe harsh conditions in Israeli prisons
The release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees offers a rare glimpse into the immediate health impacts of incarceration in Israel.
Some of the those released on Monday are suffering from a range of health problems they developed during years in Israeli detention, doctors and freed prisoners in the occupied West Bank told The Associated Press.
“I was beaten on the shoulder, causing it to tear. For eight months, I wasn’t given even a pill for the pain,” said Kamal Abu Shanab, 51, who was released after more than 18 years behind bars.
A military court in 2007 convicted him of “military training, voluntary manslaughter and membership in an unrecognized organization,” according to Israel’s list of exchanged prisoners.
The Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah received 14 men released on Monday as part of the exchange and discharged all but two. Doctors examining the men said their conditions suggested they had been beaten.
“It indicates that these patients were subjected to severe beatings, reflecting the extent of the violence they endured,” said Imed al-Shami, a resident doctor at the hospital’s emergency room.
The AP could not independently verify the claims. The Israel Prison Service said it was unaware of such claims.
“All inmates are held according to legal procedures, and their rights including access to medical care and adequate living conditions are upheld,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.
Israel says it adheres to its prison standards under law and investigates any reports of violations. But such allegations are consistent with findings previously documented by media organizations and human rights groups.
German chancellor says work on lasting peace in Mideast is only just beginning
Chancellor Friedrich Merz, one of the leaders who attended Monday’s summit in Egypt, said Tuesday that “the really hard work on what can and must come of this starts now.” He added that he sees greater opportunities than risks but “there are of course risks; we have to see these risks. We have to remain very realistic.”
Merz said he had told colleagues in Egypt: “I don’t want to be sitting with the same group in half a year and having to ask: What went wrong?”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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