Released Filipino hostage, Gelienor “Jimmy” Leano Pacheco, has welcomed a new daughter – and named her Israela, as a tribute to the people and the State of Israel.
Pacheco, 33, was abducted from kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 – where he was working as a carer for 80-year-old Amitai Ben Zvi, who he called “Abba”.
The pair were hiding in their safe room when Hamas terrorists broke into the house, killing Ben Zvi and taking Pacheco to Gaza in handcuffs.
Writing on Facebook at the time, his wife Clarice shared “[my husband] is an ordinary Filipino caregiver working in Israel and a father of our three kids that wanting only to give his family a better life. He is still missing and I am already desperate because I don’t have any update about him until now.”
Meanwhile, Ben Zvi’s daughter wrote that Pacheco had looked after her father with “quiet, admirable devotion, always attentive to his needs and supportive in countless ways.”
Pacheco was finally released on November 24 2023, after 49 days in captivity, along with 10 Thai hostages.
Speaking after his release, Pacheco – who was kidnapped with fellow Nir Oz residents Yarden Bibas and Ofer Calderon – revealed: "For two weeks I was in a small room with Yarden and Ofer... A special bond developed between us. When I cried, they took care of me and told me that the Israeli government was helping. We sang together, we laughed, and I even taught Yarden to speak Filipino."
In a separate interview he shared: “When they took me, I never expected they’d bring me back alive... When I first saw the sunlight and came out from the tunnel, I just knelt. I thanked the Lord because I saw the sun again and breathed fresh air.”
Israela is the Pacheco’s fourth child, joining two older brothers and a sister.
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