Released Israeli hostage finally learns name of his youngest daughter

Through tears and tight embraces, released Israeli-American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen on Saturday finally learned the name of his youngest daughter, born two months after he was taken hostage by Gaza militants in October 2023.

In footage published by the Israeli government, Dekel-Chen's wife Avital, shedding tears of joy as the two embraced after 16 months apart, told him that the baby girl was named Shahar Mazal, which could translate into "lucky dawn" in English.

"That's perfect," responded the 36-year-old former hostage, moments after he was taken back to Israel.

The couple reunited at a military base in southern Israel, where Sagui Dekel-Chen was taken to along with two other hostages -- Israeli-Russian Sasha Trupanov, 29, and Israeli-Argentine Yair Horn, 46 -- all freed on Saturday under a truce deal.

All three men were taken from their homes in Nir Oz, a kibbutz community near the Gaza border, during Hamas's unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war.

A statement from Dekel-Chen's family, shared by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum campaign group, said: "Our Sagui is home. A friend, son, partner, and most importantly a father, has returned."

After nearly 500 days in captivity, "now he's finally on Israeli soil, with us," it added.

"In the coming hours, he will begin his rehabilitation process, he will meet his daughters Gali and Bar, and for the first time meet his little daughter, Shahar, who was born while he was in captivity."

The statement said the family plans to keep campaigning "until the last hostage returns home".

Earlier on Saturday, a source in Hamas's military wing told AFP that the group had given Dekel-Chen "a gold pendant that reflects the Palestinian traditions and customs" for his daughter.