Lishi Miran-Lavi, wife of freed hostage Omri Miran and one of the leaders of the protest movement calling for the return of all captives held in Gaza, described her husband’s slow process of recovery and the overwhelming joy of his homecoming after more than two years in Hamas captivity.
“Omri has been a free man for just over a week,” Miran-Lavi told Ynet in an interview. “In these few days he’s starting to grasp the scale of the struggle that took place here. He knew there was one, and he knew we were fighting—but I don’t think he understood the full magnitude.”
Miran-Lavi said that less than a week after her husband returned to their temporary home at Kibbutz Kramim in southern Israel, he joined several other freed hostages in a meeting with U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, senior adviser and son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.
“When he heard there would be a meeting with Witkoff and Kushner, he didn’t think twice before saying he’d come,” she said. “He now sees himself as part of the struggle—until the last hostage is home.”
She said that although the reunion has brought immense relief, the couple faces a long process of rehabilitation and emotional healing. “It feels like learning everything anew—hearing the word ‘Abba’ [Daddy] again at home, just being a normal family,” Miran-Lavi said. “But Omri and I are strong. With much love, optimism and sensitivity, we know things will be good—very good.”
Abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz
Miran was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists launched their deadly assault on southern Israel. His wife and their two daughters, Alma and Roni—then ages two and one—witnessed the abduction.
According to family accounts, five armed terrorists and a teenage boy, Tomer Arava-Eliaz, who was forced by the attackers to accompany them, entered the Miran family home. They led Omri, his wife and their daughters to the home of their neighbors, the Idan family. From there, they took all the men at gunpoint.
During his 738 days in captivity, Miran was held in 23 different locations in Gaza, both underground in tunnels and above ground. At times he was shackled inside a small cage. For the first three weeks, he was kept tied up, according to his brother Boaz. Only after five months was he transferred to what his family described as a “relatively normal guard,” who told him that his wife and daughters were alive.
Miran later told his family that during the first phase of his captivity, he and four other hostages were held together in a cage measuring about 1.8 by 1.6 meters (roughly 6 by 5 feet), crouched down and unable to stand. One by one, the others were taken away until only he and one other hostage remained.
He said the terrorists sometimes left their Kalashnikov rifles next to the hostages, and though he briefly considered using one to attempt an escape, he realized it would be impossible to succeed. Occasionally, he managed to listen to Arabic-language news reports.
‘He counted every day’
His brother Nadav said that Miran sometimes cooked for his captors, who came to like his food. “He counted every single day in his head,” Nadav said. “He knew exactly what date it was and how many days he had been held. He spent most of his days playing cards with his captors.”
Miran’s brother Boaz said the family clung to hope through the long months of uncertainty. “Only after we learned he was alive did we begin to breathe again,” he said.
Miran was released last week as part of a hostage deal brokered by Trump’s administration, which included mediation efforts by Qatar and Egypt. He returned home to Israel after 738 days in captivity — more than two full years since his abduction.
For Miran-Lavi, the joy of reunion is intertwined with the continuing pain of others still missing. “Omri now sees himself as part of the fight until the very last hostage returns,” she said. “We won’t stop until every one of them is home.”