Son's 'sheer happiness' at hugging mother after Hamas release

Ada Sagi was freed on the fifth day of the Israel-Hamas truce

A British-Israeli man has told BBC London of his "sheer happiness" at hugging his mother after she was released by Hamas.

Ada Sagi, who turned 75 when being held captive, was freed on 28 November, the fifth day of the Israel-Hamas truce.

Her son Noam Sagi, who lives in north London, said: "For 53 days I was visualising that moment. Everything came into it.

"It was just squeezing and squeezing and squeezing and pinching myself."

Ada Sagi's son said "her positive mindset will always be her strength"

Mr Sagi said waiting to discover whether his mother was on the daily list of captives Hamas planned to free was "the most difficult part" of the ordeal.

"We knew how many people are there - and everybody's doing the maths. Chances are getting slimmer and slimmer, but I kept myself going.

"I knew that it will come and it doesn't matter if it's day one or day five. She will be out. I'm absolutely convinced. So when it happened it was just sheer happiness."

Noam Sagi told BBC London he is sure his mother will recover from her ordeal

Mr Sagi said his mother was recovering well from her experience: "Of course she went through a huge, huge ordeal. Physically, she is generally OK.

"I always said if she's physically fine, her brain and her positive mindset will always be her strength.

"She will have to go through a lot.

"But right now, I'm sitting here in London and I'm relaxed."

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