Children of the Brodutch family, and their family dog, Rodney, could not hold back their excitement after reuniting on Monday, a day after the siblings and their mother were released from Hamas captivity in Gaza.

Its tail wagging, Rodney ran between the children, who patted the dog when it eventually settled down in the middle of the hospital corridor.

The Brodutch family – four-year old Oria, eight-year old Yuval, 10-year old Ofri and their mother, Hagar – were taken hostage, together with more than 200 other people, by Hamas militants on Oct 7

The hostages were abducted during attacks by the Islamist group that killed 1,200 in Israeli communities, a music festival and army posts.

Avihai – the children’s father, who on Oct 7 left his family in a safe room to join a team fighting off the militants – had staged a protest outside Israel’s defence ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv in a call for the immediate return of hostages.

Rodney was his only companion on the empty pavement before hundreds of Israelis joined him. On Sunday, the family was finally reunited.

The four Brodutch family members, together with Abigail Edan, an Israeli-American, were released under a temporary ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.