4-Year-Old American Girl's Release Called a 'Miracle'

Family of Abigail Edan relieved but hope for safety of other Hamas hostages
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 27, 2023 6:48 AM CST
After 4-Year-Old's Release, 9 Americans Still Hostage
This undated photo shows Abigail Edan, now 4.   (Hostages and Missing Families Forum headquarters via AP)

Abigail Edan was 3 years old when Hamas militants seized her as a hostage. The American girl had a birthday in captivity and returns to a much different world as a 4-year-old upon her release over the weekend. The militants murdered both her parents, Roy and Smadar Edan, and she was in her father's arms when he was shot to death, reports the New York Times. She ran to the home of her neighboring aunt, Tal Edan, but she and others hiding there were subsequently found and taken hostage. "Feels like a miracle that came true," her aunt wrote upon the release of Abigail, who has dual American-Israeli citizenship.

Abigail's older siblings, ages 6 and 10, managed to escape the militants, and all three are expected to remain in Israel and be raised by their aunt, uncle, and grandparents, per CBS News. "We know that for her to come back, for her sister and her brother, is their one hope," another relative had said prior to her release. With the release of Abigail, nine American hostages remain—national security adviser Jake Sullivan had put the count at 10 just before she was freed, per the Hill. The AP lists them as eight citizens and one lawful permanent resident and says the fate of those seven men and two women remain unclear. (Hamas previously released two American women.)

"We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing," said Liz Hirsh Naftali and Noa Naftali, Abigail's great-aunt and cousin, in a statement. Abigail's father worked as a photographer for the Israeli media outlet Ynet, per the Washington Post. Her grandfather, Carmel Edan, was asked by the Times of Israel what he would say to his granddaughter when he could finally see her. "I won't tell her anything," he responded. "I'll kiss her, stroke her, hug her. Speak, no? There's nothing to say." (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)

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