An Israeli mom and her young daughter formed a close bond with a Thai woman while they were all held captive by Hamas for nearly two months – and the trio recently reunited in an emotional phone call.
“I love you, and I told you while we were there that we are family,” Daniella Aloni, 45, told Nutthawaree “Yo” Munkan in Hebrew during the 5-minute conversation Wednesday, according to a video shared by the Israel Foreign Ministry.
Munkan – an agricultural worker who was kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7 and held captive alongside Aloni and her young daughter – replied in Thai from a room at the hospital, and was translated by Daniel Porat, Israeli psychologist who treated the freed Thai hostages.
“She says that you are also beautiful, and Emilia is beautiful. She misses you a lot,” Porat relayed to Aloni and 5-year-old Emilia.
At the beginning of the video, Emilia can be heard counting to 10 in Thai while Munkan smiles and counts along on her fingers.
A few minutes later, Emilia sang what sounded like a Thai song.
“Yo wishes to thank you very much,” Porat told Aloni on the Thai woman’s behalf.
Aloni replied, “Tell her from me that she looks great and her face looks great.
“Both of us give [Yo] a very big hug.”
At the end of the call, Munkan blows kisses to the phone screen while her partner, who was also held hostage and released this week, looks on.
The couple was both holding small Israeli flags.
“At the first opportunity, we will come to Thailand. What joy to see her like this,” Aloni gushed.
It was not clear where Aloni and Emilia were calling from, as they had already been released from the hospital after being freed Nov. 24 as part of the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.
The mother and daughter were visiting with Aloni’s sister’s family at Kibbutz Nir Oz when Hamas terrorists stormed the community and killed or kidnapped about a quarter of its 400 residents.
Munken, 35, reportedly came to Israel to find work and was employed on a farm when she met her partner Bunthom Phankong.
Both were also kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7 and spent nearly two months as hostages in the Gaza Strip. They were also released Friday.
It is unclear if Munken and the Alonis spent their entire six-week ordeals together.
With Post wires