David Cunio, the Israeli actor kidnapped along with his wife and 3-year-old daughters during the Hamas terror attacks in 2023, is among 20 Israeli hostages released on Monday amid the Gaza ceasefire.
Cunio, who made his debut in the Berlinale-premiering feature film “Youth” in 2013, has been held by Hamas alongside his brother Ariel Cunio for over two years.
They were kidnapped from Nir Oz, a kibbutz in Southern Israel, on Oct. 7, 2023. On that day, Hamas militias killed more than 1,200 people and took a further 251 hostage.
While Cunio’s wife Sharon and twin daughters were released in the first ceasefire deal in November 2023, Cunio’s fate — along with that of dozens of other hostages including Nepalese citizen Bipin Joshi — remained unknown until today.
His abduction was the focus of the 2025 documentary “A Letter to David,” which debuted at the Berlin Film Festival in February. Tom Shoval directed the doc while Nancy Spielberg produced.
The release of 20 living hostages plus a further 28 bodies killed on Oct. 7 or in captivity is the first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump. In exchange, Israel will release 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Following the attacks in 2023, Israel began a ground incursion into Gaza where 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the country’s health authorities.
Trump is currently in Israel to meet the released hostages. He will then fly to Sharm-El-Shaikh in Egypt for an international summit with Middle Eastern leaders including the Egyptian president, the King of Jordan, the King of Bahrain, the President of Turkey and the leaders of the U.K., Germany and France.
variety.com
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