A Day Of Grief And Joy: Yosef Chaim Ohana Returns Home While Levaya is Held for Dror Or Hy’d

Freed hostage Yosef Chaim Ohana returned to Kiryat Malachi on Sunday, stepping back into his hometown after 738 days in captivity; a moment of national joy that contrasted with the the burial of Dror Or Hy’d, who was returned recently by Hamas terrorists.

The duality of a young man lifted onto shoulders of admirers and a grieving family laying a beloved father to rest captured the emotional whiplash that continues to define life in Israel more than two years after the Hamas-led massacre.

Ohana, abducted during the terrorists’ October 7 attack at the Nova music festival and among the final 20 surviving hostages freed on October 13, completed several weeks of rehabilitation at the Kfar HaMaccabiah center in Ramat Gan before making his way home. He emerged smiling, surrounded by his parents, students waving flags, and Scouts drummers who accompanied him in a celebratory procession. As he stepped outside, he clapped and mimed a hug toward the crowd.

“It’s hard when everyone looks at you like this,” he admitted before arriving in Kiryat Malachi. “But all the love I’m receiving says everything.” He emphatically recited Shema Yisrael. Supporters then lifted him onto their shoulders and carried him to City Hall, where he blew a shofar as candy rained down.

“I’m so excited to return to the city, after two years of dreaming that I would get there someday. It’s crazy,” he said. “I want to say thank you. Listen, you’re amazing.”

Visibly emotional, he continued: “The first thing I’ll do when I get home is cry. Each one of you is like an angel. This warmth and welcome prove we have one heart. You’re here for the hard times and the joyous ones. I love each and every one of you. Just as your smile gave me strength, I ask you — never stop smiling at one another. Let’s live with the knowledge that nothing is to be taken for granted. Thank you for everything.”

Ohana said the ability to speak openly about what he endured mattered to him. “People ask what we went through and how we’re doing — that gives us space to share and be heard.” He also emphasized that one Israeli hostage remains in Gaza, mentioning Ran Gvili and saying his family “deserves to have him here.” Addressing the cheering crowd once more, he added, “But look, look at these champs. I’m still here.”

His father, Avi, described the return as a miracle. “For two years we cried out for this day. I want to tell you: I love you with all my soul. This day didn’t come by chance — it came after millions of prayers from the people of Israel that Yosef Chaim would be saved and return home against all odds. It’s a great miracle, a personal splitting of the sea. Thank you for this blessed day.”

Meanwhile, oved ones buried Dror Or Hy’d, a devoted father, husband, and cheesemaker, whose body was returned last week under the ceasefire terms, more than two years after he was murdered and taken into Gaza. He was laid to rest beside his wife, Yonat Or Hy’d, who was also murdered by the terrorists on October 7.

His brother Elad said in his eulogy that he could never fully comprehend what happened. “I will never in my life really understand how this could have happened to you and to Yonat — how you were attacked like that in your beautiful home, with such terrible evil,” he said. “And how you somehow managed to tell Alma and Noam to run, and then they caught you. I never want to understand it.”

Dror’s younger children, Noam and Alma, were taken hostage during the attack and later freed under the first hostage deal in November 2023. His older son, Yahli, was away on a year of national service at the time.

Hundreds of Be’eri residents, including former hostages, joined the funeral. Gvili’s family was also present, a reminder that two murdered hostages; Ran Gvili Hy’d and Sudthisak Rintalak, have still not been returned.

Dror’s father, Yuval, said the family’s struggle continues. “There is still a refusal to investigate the disaster of October 7 and what led to it,” he said, calling for a full, independent inquiry and urging Israelis to pursue a “democratic, solidarity- and peace-seeking Israel.”

His mother, Dorit, spoke of Dror and Yonat as “people of freedom and light, of spirit and creativity,” describing their early years together, their return to Be’eri, their three children, and the home they built. She recounted how, on October 7, as terrorists entered the house and set it on fire, the couple instructed their children to flee out the window and run — saving their lives.

She remembered her son as a patient, gentle father, whose calmness shaped their home. “We have each other,” Elad told the family as they stood beside the graves.