Abigail Edan was three when she saw her parents murdered before her eyes. She was four when she was held captive by the terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza. And a few months before her fifth birthday, she played with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office.
It was an incredible journey for the little girl, who captured hearts around the world.
Abigail survived starvation and lived in filthy, insect-infested conditions for the fifty days she was held in Gaza, one of the youngest prisoners of the war between Israel and Hamas.
She was reunited with her brother and sister. Now the children, who live with extended family in Israel, are recovering from their trauma and rebuilding their family bonds.
President Biden met with Abigail in the Oval Office on Wednesday
President Biden with Abigail, her siblings and her cousins
Abigail, who has dual American-Israeli citizenship, was the youngest hostage released by Hamas when she was freed in November.
She was taken to Atzerim Airforce Base, where she was reunited with her aunt Liron and grandmother Shlomit. She later met more relatives at nearby Schneider Hospital Tel Aviv where doctors said she was ‘doing remarkably well’.
Her release was celebrated around the world.
‘Thank God she’s home. I wish I was there to hold her,” Biden said at the time.
On Wednesday, Biden was allowed to give her a hug when Abigail and her family spent more than an hour with him at the White House.
Like any normal little girl, she played with the President’s desk and crawled through the famous open door of the Resolute Desk. She also made it to the South Lawn, where she enjoyed the huge swing that President Barack Obama installed for his little daughters.
“She played in the Oval Office. “She crawled through the door of the resolute office with that famous photo of John F. Kennedy’s son,” a senior administration official said of the meeting. “She went outside and sat on the swings and played on the playground we have on the South Lawn.”
Biden posted a photo of himself holding Abigail in the Oval Office.
“Her family sent me a note saying she was driving home and she said, ‘You know, I love Joe Biden,’” he told reporters at the meeting.
The president also posted a second photo of himself and Abigail standing with her siblings and cousins in the Oval Office in front of the Resolute Desk.
He wrote: “Last year we secured the release of Abigail, a four-year-old held by Hamas. She is remarkable and recovering from unspeakable trauma. Our time together yesterday was a reminder of the work ahead to secure the release of all remaining hostages.”
Abigail is briefly seen with an IDF soldier after her release by Hamas in November
Abigail’s parents, 43-year-old Roy Edan and 40-year-old Smadar Edan, were shot when Hamas militants stormed their kibbutz in southern Israel; her brother and sister hid in a closet
Abigail is seen with her aunt Liron, third from left, her uncle Zuli, second from right, and her grandparents Shlomit, right, and Eitan at Schneider Children’s Medical Center after her release
Abigail’s family were among the first victims of Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.
On that day, Hamas militants stormed her kibbutz, Kfar Azza, about three kilometers from the Gaza border, and killed her parents, 43-year-old Roy Edan and 40-year-old Smadar Edan.
Roy Edan, a photographer for the Israeli news channel Ynet, had taken some of the first photos of the attack.
He was holding Abigail when he was shot.
Abigail’s siblings, brother Michael, 10, and sister Amalya, 6, locked themselves in a closet and hid for 14 hours. They survived and were reunited with family shortly after the attack.
But Abigail had to crawl under her father’s lifeless body, covered in his blood, to her neighbor’s house.
The Brodutch family took her in while the frenzy raged. All five – Abigail, Hagar Brodutch and her three children – then disappeared.
Abigail’s extended family in Israel feared the worst: that she had been murdered along with her parents.
But later her name appeared on a list of hostages alongside that of the Brodutch family.
During her captivity, Abigail was held in filthy conditions and was not given enough food.
Her family said she was “hungry” after her release.
Otherwise, the little girl spent time playing with her siblings and enjoying meals with her family.
The first images of Abigail Edan’s reunion with her grandmother and aunt after she was taken hostage by Hamas following the murder of her parents by the terrorist group
Abigail played in the Resolute Desk in the White House and hid in the same place where John F. Kennedy Jr. hid when his father John Kennedy was president
Abigail played on the same swing that President Barack Obama installed for daughters Sasha and Malia (above)
Liz Hirsh Naftali, Abigail’s cousin and great-aunt, told NPR last year that Abigail “ran to a neighbor’s house after crawling out from under her father’s body.” And these neighbors took her in.”
She added that the four-year-old was “hungry” when she was released.
“She has been eating and drinking and is so happy to be with her family and siblings,” Naftali said.
She noted that Abigail had not talked much about what happened in Gaza during those fifty days.
She told Katie Couric: “We’re finding out little by little that it was actually gross. They have been moved a few times. It is not clear exactly where they were moved to and how they were moved, but they were not in one place. It was insect infested. There was no food fit for any child to eat for fifty days. We are learning slowly, but those are the things that have been shared with us.”
The Brodutch family, ranging in age from 4 to 84, was also released with Abigail.
Much of the early days of the war was marked by concern for Abigail. The countdown was on to see if she would be released on November 24, her fourth birthday.
She was released a few days later.