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Emmy-Nominated Film About Israeli Siblings Released From Hamas Captivity Screens in New York
(From left) Yoram Zak, Itay Regev, Noa Argamani, Maya Regev, and Ilan Regev at a screening of “Brother & Sister in Captivity” in New York City on Sept. 23, 2024. Photo: Yoram Zak
A film about two Israeli siblings who returned from Hamas captivity in Gaza after being abducted at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7 screened in New York City on Monday, two days before representing Israel at the News and Documentary International Emmy Awards ceremony in Manhattan.
“Sister & Brother in Hamas Captivity” by award-winning director Yoram Zak is an episode of “Uvda,” Israel’s leading investigative and current affairs television program from Keshet Media Group. The episode was nominated in the category of current affairs and competed against nominees from Brazil, India, and the United Kingdom.
The “Uvda” episode is about Maya and Itay Regev, siblings from Herzilya who were kidnapped at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7 by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists during their rampage across southern Israel, in which they murdered 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages. At the Nova Festival alone, nearly 400 people were killed and approximately 40 others kidnapped.
Zak spoke to the Regev siblings about their captivity for the “Uvda” episode, but prior to their return home, Zak’s film crew followed their parents, Mirit and Ilan Regev, starting from the 10th day of their children’s captivity until the whole family was reunited.
The Regev siblings were kidnapped along with their friends Omer Shem-Tov, who remains in Hamas captivity and turned 21 in late October, and Ori Danino, 25. On Sept. 1, the Israel Defense Forces announced Danino’s death and the recovery of his body from a Hamas tunnel in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. There are still 101 hostages that remain in Hamas captivity, 97 of whom were kidnapped on Oct. 7.
In the “Uvda” episode. Maya, 21, and Itay, 19, also talked about the days leading up to the Oct. 7 massacre. The siblings vacationed in Mexico with their family for three weeks in late September and early October last year. They shared with Zak photos and videos from their fun-filled trip to Mexico before they landed back in Israel on Oct. 6 in the evening. The next day, they went with friends to the Nova Music Festival.
Among other things discussed in the “Uvda” episode, the Regev siblings talked about passing notes to each other during captivity when they were separated, which gave them strength to survive. Itay explained how he was held captive in the same room as Shem-Tov and together they managed to say the Jewish prayer over wine and bread every Friday, in honor of Shabbat, by reserving some grape juice and pretzels given by their captors. Maya talked about befriending another Hamas hostage who ultimately died beside her in captivity, complications with her leg injury while held in Gaza, and staying optimistic that she would return to Israel to her family.
Maya and Italy were among 105 civilians released from captivity in Gaza during a weeklong truce in late November between Israel and Hamas. Both were shot in the legs by terrorists on Oct. 7.
The Regev siblings, their father, and Zak attended the screening of “Sister & Brother in Hamas Captivity” in New York City on Monday that was hosted by The Jewish National Fund and the Israeli Consulate. They participated in a Q&A after the screening. Also in attendance was Noa Argamani, a former Hamas hostage abducted on Oct. 7 who was rescued by the IDF in June.
Maya explained to the audience that she had eight surgeries on her left leg upon returning to Israel and had to undergo many months of physical therapy and other treatments to regain her ability to fully walk again. Zak, who is the producer of the “Big Brother” television series in Israel, said that Monday’s screening was the first time he had seen her walk unassisted.
Zak explained that the goal of the film is to bring awareness to what Israelis experienced on Oct. 7. Maya talked about having a hard time moving on with her life when so many hostages are still in captivity, and that she will continue to do what she can to bring awareness to the suffering that the hostages have experienced since Oct. 7.
“I know that they would do the same for me and I know what they’re going through,”she said. “I know they are in pain, they are starving, they are tired, scared, all the emotions. And we [Italy and I] are the best people to know what’s really going on and maybe people also want to listen to us. So I can affect people. I think it’s really important. It’s really hard, but I know everyone else would do it for me so I know I have to do it for them.”
Maya and Itay both said the hardest and most surprising part about coming back to Israel after being held hostage in Gaza was that so many people knew who they were — a newfound fame they wish they didn’t have. Itay talked in Hebrew about being overwhelmed with all the love and support he got from fellow Israelis upon returning to Israel, which he described as the highest high after experiencing the lowest low while being in Gaza. He said he feels like he has lived two lives — his life before Oct. 7 and his life after the Hamas terrorist attacks.
“I didn’t choose this, [but] everyone comes to me in the street and asks to hug me, and kiss me, and take photos with me and it’s really weird,” Maya said. “This is the hardest part, because every time somebody comes to me, it’s a reminder that I went through something horrible. And I don’t need that reminder. I already know that. My wish is that everybody would walk past me and smile or something, and that’s it.”
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IDF Denies Troops Fired on Civilians After Incidents of Settler Violence
Illustrative. Israeli troops during counterterrorism activity in Tulkarem, northwestern Samaria, September 2024. Photo: IDF.
i24 News – The IDF released a statement after an incident during which Israeli soldiers opened fire on Israeli civilians in the West Bank on Saturday night, denying that the trooped fired live ammunition.
This comes at the heels of arson incidents by settlers against Palestinian villages, with clashes breaking out. The IDF said that its soldiers had come under attack on Friday as they entered the area of Kafr Malik, the site of the disturbances, by Israeli civilians. “The undermining of the rule of law and the use of violence by a radical minority harm security and stability in the area.”
The IDF later said that “an initial investigation indicates that IDF forces did not fire live ammunition at Israeli civilians in the area. It should be clarified that the battalion commander’s force operating in the Baal Hatzor area of the Binyamin brigade did not fire live ammunition at all.” On the other hand, the civilians claimed this was false, posting a video that showed shell casings on the ground right next to where the troops were deployed.
Meanwhile, the police requested the remand of six individuals, two of whom are minors, to be extended in connection with the incident.
The IDF later said that, “in another area within the sector, stones were thrown at a military vehicle near the site of the clash by masked individuals from an ambush. The force responded with a warning shot of three bullets.” A possible connection “between this incident and the claim that an Israeli civilian was injured by live fire” is being investigated.
After the incidents late last week, the IDF issued an unusual directive for soldiers to exercise special vigilance and also prepare for scenarios involving nationalist incidents perpetrated by Israeli citizens. The directive was issued after a military vehicle was set on fire inside a Jewish settlement, the tires of an armored David vehicle were punctured, and a community policing caravan near the community of Beit El was also set on fire.
“The security establishment system is highly alert,” a security official told i24NEWS. “We are seeing an escalation on the ground – and if you cannot leave a military vehicle in a Jewish community without it being burned in the sector, it is a sign that the situation is dangerous.”
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Israel Orders Evacuations in Northern Gaza as Trump Calls for War to End
US President Donald Trump speaks during a swearing-in ceremony of Special Envoy Steve Witkoff in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kent Nishimura
The Israeli military ordered Palestinians to evacuate areas in northern Gaza on Sunday before intensified fighting against Hamas, as US President Donald Trump called for an end to the war amid renewed efforts to broker a ceasefire.
“Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform early on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to hold talks later in the day on the progress of Israel’s offensive. A senior security official said the military will tell him the campaign is close to reaching its objectives, and warn that expanding fighting to new areas in Gaza may endanger the remaining Israeli hostages.
But in a statement posted on X and text messages sent to many residents, the military urged people in northern parts of the enclave to head south towards the Al-Mawasi area in Khan Younis, which Israel designated as a humanitarian area. Palestinian and U.N. officials say nowhere in Gaza is safe.
“The (Israeli) Defense Forces is operating with extreme force in these areas, and these military operations will escalate, intensify, and extend westward to the city center to destroy the capabilities of terrorist organizations,” the military said.
The evacuation order covered the Jabalia area and most Gaza City districts. Medics and residents said the Israeli army’s bombardments escalated in the early hours in Jabalia, destroying several houses and killing at least six people.
At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, relatives arrived to pay their respects to white-shrouded bodies before they are buried.
“A month ago, they (Israel) told us to go to Al-Mawasi (in Khan Younis) and we stayed there for a month, it is a safe zone,” said Zeyad Abu Marouf. He said three of his children were killed and a fourth was wounded in the Israeli airstrike.
“We ask God and the Arabs to move and end this occupation and the injustice taking place against us,” Abu Marouf told Reuters.
NEW CEASEFIRE PUSH
The military escalation comes as Arab mediators, Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, begin a new ceasefire effort to halt the 20-month-old conflict and secure the release of Israeli and foreign hostages still being held by Hamas.
Interest in resolving the Gaza conflict has heightened following US and Israeli bombings of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
There has also been rising concern over how aid is being distributed to Gazans in the ruined enclave. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed over the past month in the vicinity of areas where food was being handed out, local hospitals and officials have said.
A Hamas official told Reuters the group had informed the mediators it was ready to resume ceasefire talks, but reaffirmed the group’s outstanding demands that any deal must end the war and secure an Israeli withdrawal from the coastal territory.
Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive, only in a deal that will end the war. Israel says it can only end the war if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms.
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Russia Launches Largest Drone Attack Yet Against Ukraine, Kills F-16 Pilot
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine June 10, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
i24 News – Ukraine’s Air Force said that Russia launched 537 drones and missiles against targets throughout Ukraine overnight between Saturday and Sunday, in what what described as the largest attack of the war.
Poland activated aerial defenses and scrambled jets as the six-hour onslaught continued. One Ukrainian F-16 pilot was killed as Kyiv attempted to intercept the missiles and drones, with 475 shot down.
“Tragically, while repelling the attack, our F-16 pilot, Maksym Ustymenko, died. Today, he destroyed seven aerial targets,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
“Ustymenko did everything possible, but his jet was damaged and started losing altitude,” the air force said, as quoted in Politico. “He died like a hero!”
The cities of Cherkasy, Lviv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Kyiv were targeted.
The Russia attack came after Ukraine attacked the Kirovske airfield in the Crimean Peninsula, targeting air defenses, drones, and even destroying several helicopters and an air defense system.
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