When Avinatan Or's parents met him after his captivity, they said to him: "We hope you're not angry with us."
Because they were part of the families who opposed the Hamas demands for extraordinary expensive (In Israeli lives) deals.
Avinatan: "I'm not angry with you, I'm proud of you."
On Israeli TV, Avinatan explained that even from within the tunnel, he had feared a deal that would release him to freedom but would boost the motivation of Hamas and its allies to abduct the next person.
For him, the question was not only how to save those who are there now, but also to spare those who might end up kidnapped in the future.
And he wanted to get out of there. For half a year, he dug an escape route, improvised tools and wrote farewell letters to his parents in case he didn't survive. He managed to escape, was caught, endured torture, and remained in captivity for another year.
And amid all this, he managed to put the good of the public before his own.
Avinatan called the soldiers who helped secure his release, โthe true heroes of this story. Thanks to them, Iโm here today and able to feel all your love.โ
โI hope we can carry this love and unity forward without needing war to get there. Our strength is in our unityโonly love will prevail.โ