Tal,second from right, with his family
Tal,second from right, with his familyJamal Awad/Flash90

Tal Shoham arrived with his wife Adi and their two children to visit his parents in Kibbutz Be'eri and was abducted with them during the October 7th massacre. After more than 500 days in Hamas captivity the family was finally reunited.

Inbal Zach, Tal's cousin who was released from Hamas captivity, shared her feelings in the wake of his release. Zach is still waiting to meet her beloved cousin. "I said "Wow, he looks so noble with his head held high. I heard he was a hero and he was strong. We saw that he had lost a little weight, but everything is fine. He came out on two feet, walking and smiling and waving. And even when they saw him alongside the Amalekites in the car, he came out with a little smile. He is very strong mentally. I knew they would not be able to break his spirit. When I saw him come out with his head held high, I said to myself, "That's Tal." Now he will recover, his injury will be treated.""

"I didn't ask much about his health, and yesterday in every interview I said that it was time to return Tal to his privacy. I was asked if I was removing the sticker I wear counting the days. I said that I would enlarge it and go with shirts of other hostages. I will go with it with great respect until every member of this family comes home. It isn't a family we wanted to be part of, but it is amazing."

"When we knew that Tal was being released, we announced that we would stay until the last hostage. To give up on them is to give up on us, and I will not give up on us. We saw the pictures yesterday of the two children with Tal. There are four other fathers alive who deserve this very thing. There are also children of the fallen, like Tamir Adar, whose children also deserve a place to weep for their father. We cannot take this lightly. This must end with all the hostages returned to their homes."

She recalled that she had not received a sign of life from Tal until he was released. "We said that whoever was with him, they would look out for each other because that is the nature of Tal. It was very worrying that there was no sign of life from him, but now we understood that he was with Omer and there was no one else with them."

Regarding the reports that Hamas brought two hostages to watch the release ceremony but did not let them go, Tzach said: "I saw Evyatar and Guy. It's horrifying, but they're alive and they're amazing, and we understand that we have to bring them home. They're together, they're very good friends, and they're going through these things together. It's a small comfort."

"I can once again say 'good morning' and not just 'morning' because Tal is home, and that's a breath of fresh air. I felt a stone lifted off my shoulders," she concluded.