The three-year-old son of newly released Israeli hostage Or Levy hugged his father for the first time in 16 months as the pair were reunited in hospital after the 491-day ordeal.

In a video call before the meeting at the Sheba Medical Centre near Tel Aviv, Almog told his father: “Dad, it took you a long time to come back.”

The reunion was however marked by grief as, upon his return to Israel, Mr Levy learnt that his wife, Eynav, had been killed by Hamas during the Nova music festival massacre on Oct 7 2023.