US President Joe Biden published this evening (Thursday) a photo of himself with Abigail Idan, the 4-year-old who was released from Hamas captivity in Gaza, after arriving at the White House.
A senior American official told about the time the two spent together. He noted that at the meeting, which was attended by Abigail’s family members.
“Biden let her play like a girl. She played in the oval room and crawled under the table. Abigail also went out to the White House lawn, ran and played in the playground when the president was with the family and discussed with her the efforts we are making to free the abductees.”
The president also commented on the meeting in a tweet he published this evening: “We brought about the release of Abigail, 4 years old, who was held by Hamas. She is amazing and recovering from unspeakable trauma. Our time together yesterday was a reminder of the hard work ahead of us to secure the release of all the abductees remaining in Gaza.”
Abigail Idan became the symbol of Hamas’ cruelty. She was released after 51 days in captivity – two days after celebrating her fourth birthday.
Abigail was kidnapped from her home along with Hagar Brodach and her children. Her father, ynet photographer Roi Idan the 14th, documented the infiltration of the terrorists into Gaza City in the first minutes of the surprise attack, before he was murdered along with his mother Samdar the 14th.
Abigail ran away from the terrorists while she was covered in father Roy’s blood, and the neighbor Avichai Brodach who recognized this ran to her, picked her up at his house and saved her. He jumped into the emergency room, and when he returned home he discovered that his wife, children and Abigail had been kidnapped.
Abigail’s two brothers, 9-year-old Michael and 6-year-old Amelia, hid for 14 hours in a closet at home and survived the massacre.
